Catch and Release
by callistawolf
Summary: The Doctor and Rose wake up in a 1950's style living room in 50's style clothing. What is going on? How did they get to this place?


Notes

If you would like, I can furnish a layout diagram of the room they are in as well as pictures of the clothing they are wearing. Let the fun begin!

MANY thanks to lunarsilverwolfstar for being a patient beta.

 **Chapter 1**

Rose Tyler woke up with a persistent throbbing in her head. Good lord, what happened? Did she have a hangover? Had she gone out drinking the night before? She couldn't remember a thing. Her mouth felt dried out, like it had been stuffed with cotton wool and tasted rather like it as well. She grimaced and stretched a little, her muscles feeling sore and lethargic. She tried to open her eyes and found it difficult at first. Her eyelids felt as if they had weights tied to them and for a moment, she wanted to just fall back into sleep where this headache wouldn't bother her anymore. Slowly, she was able to blink her eyes open and the bright light in the room arrowed straight into her brain. She winced and tried again.

Rose found herself in a completely unfamiliar setting. That, in itself, wasn't all that unusual. Ever since she'd started travelling with the Doctor, two years before, she'd woken in more than her fair share of strange locations. Jail cells, strange jungle huts, meadows, space stations, moon bases, forest tree houses, and once (rather unforgettably), in a graveyard. However, never before had she woken up in what looked very much to be a 1950s American sitting room. Why the hell couldn't she remember how she'd gotten here?

She was laying on her back on a low-backed sofa, covered in blue velvet, staring at a ceiling that appeared to be coated with Styrofoam pellets. The wall behind the sofa was covered with a curtain and Rose assumed the curtain was covering a wall of windows. Then she remembered she was with the Doctor and assuming such things was never a good idea. She turned her head slightly and her vision blurred for a moment. She blinked rapidly a few times to try to clear it and made out the slumped form of the Doctor, fast sleep in a matching chair (complete with blue velvet ottoman) just across from the sofa she was on. She sat up a little, wincing at the renewed throbbing in her head, and peered more closely at him. What was he _wearing_?

Hold on a tic. What was _she_ wearing? Rose sat up fully, swinging her legs off the sofa as she gawked down at herself. It was a pink dress. A pink, frilly, poufy _dress_. It looked like something that some sleazy pinup would have worn, truth be told. She figured it as being a few inches shorter than was probably prudent and there were volumes of scratchy crinoline underskirts, causing the skirt to pouf up around her. She tried in vain for a few moments to smooth the voluminous skirts and get a look at what sort of footwear she was wearing before she finally got a peek. Oh, just great. Pink, high heeled sling back sandals. She positively hated to wear heels. They were terribly impractical for all the running she usually ended up having to do. The rest of the dress consisted of a fitted bodice with what she was fairly sure was called a "sweetheart neckline" with straps that tied behind her neck. She patted her hair and found it loose, but curled and sprayed within an inch of its life. Bloody hell.

Rose directed her attention back to the Doctor, got a better look at what he was wearing, and had to stifle a giggle. He looked like, well, he looked like a character in an old-fashioned movie. His beloved brown pinstripes had been replaced with a grey wool suit with a single-breasted jacket and notched lapels. It was baggy on his lithe frame, making him almost look smaller than he was. As far as she could tell, he wore a starched white Oxford with a wide, striped tie… nothing terribly new there. Though, on his face were horn-rimmed glasses and on his head was a dark grey fedora hat. They were both definitely exuding a 1950s vibe. This whole room exuded the 1950s. Had they travelled back in time and she just couldn't remember the trip? The dark gaps in her memory were unsettling, but she pushed aside worrying about that now. The more pressing issue at the moment was _where_ they were.

Rose tried to push off the low sofa, and found her muscles quivering and sore. She finally gained her feet underneath her and stood, taking a look around the room. There was a plush, cream carpet on the floor and three of the walls were hung with textured slate-grey wallpaper. The wall adjacent to the right of the curtained window was covered in tacky art, both generic landscape paintings and sculptures of birds in flight. The wall adjoining the left, on the other hand, was nearly bare of decoration. A few small tables were set next to the sofa and the chair. On the table next to the sofa was a rather plain lamp with a normal brown lampshade. On the other sat a bright red lava lamp. Strange.

Inexplicably, in the corner nearest her sofa, stood a short, and rather pathetic—looking, artificial Christmas tree. It reminded her of an animated cartoon her mum used to let her watch at Christmastime and she started to wonder if the tree's very pathetic-ness was entirely intentional. Wait, had "A Charlie Brown Christmas" been out in the 1950s? She didn't think so. A few round ornaments hung from the tree's sparse branches. Was it Christmastime, wherever they were? On the wall next to the tree was a large, gaudy wall clock styled to look like a sunburst.

Rose didn't see anything that resembled an exit or even a doorway in the entire room, and she started to feel a prickle of panic. What if they had to use the loo? Right then, she noticed that on the wall opposite this one, in the corner behind the chair where the Doctor was still out cold, there was a curtain that hung from a railing set into the ceiling. It looked as though it would encircle a loo that was set there. Not a whole lot of privacy and what in the _world_ was a loo doing in a living room? Rose started to get a shivering awareness up and down her arms. Something was definitely not right here. Whatever this room _was_ , it was not what it appeared to be.

Deciding to ignore the rest of the room's features for now, Rose crossed to the Doctor and knelt next to his chair, shaking his arm. "Doctor! Doctor, you need to wake up!" she called. He grunted and shifted, as if trying to turn away from her. "Doctor! Wake up, I need you!"

Those must have been the magic words because his eyes snapped open right away and he sat up like a bolt. Then, he winced and grabbed at his head. He had a headache too, apparently. He tore the glasses off his face and looked at them disdainfully. "What the blazes?" he spluttered, looking at them as if they were a dangerous object. He seemed to notice what he was wearing then and jumped visibly. "Rose, what did you do?"

"Me?" she shrieked indignantly before smacking him on the arm.

"Ow!" He rubbed his arm and gave her a wounded look.

" _I_ didn't do a bloody thing. What are we doing here?" she demanded to know.

The Doctor sat up more and scanned the room. "Not a clue. No really, I literally do not have a single clue. So, I'm to understand that you don't remember either?" He looked at her, his forehead wrinkled.

Rose shook her head and sat down heavily on the floor, her skirts poofing up around her. It was then that he seemed to finally realise what she was wearing and gave her a speculative look. She flushed under his scrutiny as she yanked the heels off and tossed them over her shoulder.

"I woke up just a minute or two before you did. Looks like the 1950s, yeah?"

"No," he drawled slowly, getting carefully to his feet. He was looking around the room intently now. "But we're meant to _think_ that it's the 1950s, I believe. All of this is… window dressing. That's all it is. This is decoration, and badly reproduced decoration, I might add. I've spent a good deal of time in this decade, and in America to boot, and the details are just slightly off. There's the pile on this carpeting, for one. Shag carpet during the fifties was longer and thinner in texture than this. Also, these specific fabrics were not readily available as upholstery for furniture until the mid-1970s."

"Okay," she said slowly, climbing back to her feet and trying to keep her dress smoothed down. "So, where are we then? Why do I have a headache? And why don't I remember? Shouldn't _you_ remember? With that big Time Lord brain of yours?"

The Doctor turned to look at her sharply and then beamed at her unexpectedly. "Oh yes. I'll remember here in a moment, I'm sure of it. It's still very foggy right now. What's the last thing you remember?"

Rose chewed her lower lip and tasted the waxy residue of lipstick as she did so. She pushed her way through her memories, trying to pinpoint the last thing she readily recalled. "I remember being in the TARDIS… we had breakfast in the galley and you hassled me about taking too long to get ready. I definitely remember that. Then… we landed. I can't remember much after that."

He hummed distractedly as he strode to the wall behind his chair and placed his ear against it, as if listening for what was on the other side. Actually, now that she thought about it, that was probably exactly what he was doing. He touched the wall as if feeling for something and Rose tried not to concentrate too closely at the way his long, elegant fingers danced over the tacky wallpaper. What was he trying to feel?

"There's a door here," he said finally and he rapped on the wall with his knuckles, more for her benefit probably than actually expecting anyone to answer.

"Really?" she squeaked, surprised. She didn't see anything about that stretch of wall that was any different from any of the other walls and she most definitely did not see any doors.

"Yep, there's definitely a door. It blends in with the wall when closed, very nice, very _advanced_ technology," he murmured. "But why hide the door? Well, to keep us in, I'm assuming, since there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to open it from the inside. Yes, I think we might be stuck in here."

"What about the window?" she asked, gesturing at the curtained wall behind the sofa she'd woken up on.

The Doctor glanced over her shoulder and then looked back at her. "That's not a window."

Rose lifted an eyebrow. This, she had to hear. "What is it then?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" he suggested, with a bracing smile. He strode across the room and yanked on the curtain. It pulled back to reveal… well, it _looked_ like a window. However, on the other side there seemed to be another curtain and there was no discernible way through the clear surface. Rose tested it by knocking firmly and it didn't quite resonate like glass either.

"Let me guess," she grumbled, sagging down onto the sofa. "No way out?"

The Doctor didn't answer right away, but instead became interested in the wall next to the giant not-a-window. The strange Christmas tree was against that wall, along with the ugly starburst clock, but as she'd noticed earlier, nothing else was either against that wall or hanging from it.

"This is strange," he said, almost to himself.

"What is? Looks like a regular wall to me."

"But it's not. Not even close. It's almost like…" the Doctor trailed off as the wall began to change before their eyes.

It was as though the wallpaper, and the wall behind it, were melting like dripping candle wax or melting ice cream on a hot summer day. Then, the whole wall shimmered and became clear, almost like the not-a-window. Utterly clear. Behind this strange wall was…. Rose gasped and automatically darted behind the Doctor.

Standing on the other side of the barrier (there was no other word for it, other than melted wall perhaps), were crowds of aliens of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. They were peering in at the two of them curiously and a few of them were holding devices that looked not entirely unlike cameras as Rose knew them. This crowd was _watching_ them with rapt interest.

"Rose?" the Doctor finally said, his voice obviously purposefully calm and steady. "I do believe that we are in a _zoo_."

 **Chapter 2**

Chapter Summary

Thanks for joining me on this ride! In this chapter, the Doctor and Rose figure out a bit more about where they are and why they're there.

For those that expressed interest, here are a few links:  
The floorplan of the "room" they're in, The picture that inspired the look, Rose's Dress, The Doctor's Suit

BIG thanks again to lunarsilverwolfstar for being a great beta and also to Value Turtle for providing untold inspiration for this story (I think she might have even given me the title) and to all the rest who encouraged and helped me write this story. Thanks for being patient!

"A zoo?!" Rose shrieked, horrified. The Doctor winced and turned to face her, shushing her gently. "No, I will _not_ be quiet. Are you kidding me, Doctor? A zoo? How did we end up in a _zoo_?"

"I'm trying to remember, Rose, I really am. But we have to stay calm in the meantime," he urged her.

"How can I stay calm when you've just told me that I'm a caged animal in a zoo?" she wanted to know. She placed her hands on her hips and he had to actually tear his eyes away from the way her retro-styled dress accentuated those hips. Rassilon's pants, this was no time to let his completely inappropriate feelings about his companion (and best mate, really), creep into his thoughts.

"If you're too upset, they'll send someone in here to inject you with a sedative," he warned her. "Trust me. I've, erm, seen these sorts of operations before."

That seemed to get through to her and he watched as her eyes widened. "You have?"

He rubbed at the back of his neck and felt the edge of a hat he hadn't been aware he was wearing. He pulled it off his head and made a face as he tossed it onto the chair he'd woken up on. "I have. Here, let's sit and we can try to figure on what's going on and see if we can remember how we got here, okay?" He gestured at the sofa and Rose complied, but he could see her hands shaking as she nervously smoothed the skirt of her pink dress. She was pointedly not looking at the melted wall and the curious zoo-goers beyond it. He sat down next to her and ran a hand through his hair, trying to muss up the hair that had been flattened by the hat.

"I still can't remember a single thing, Doctor," she said, sounding miserable. "I can't even remember what planet we ended up on."

The Doctor could feel his memories starting to solidify as his neural pathways were rebuilt. He closed his eyes and concentrated. "We came here on random," he murmured, finally able to pick out an image of setting the randomiser on the TARDIS console.

"Talk about rotten luck," Rose grumbled, rubbing her arms as though she were cold, but he knew that the temperature in this enclosure was optimal for humans. She was scared then. Scared and unsure. He felt duelling sensations of guilt for having put her in this situation and anger at those who had captured them.

He was quiet for a few more minutes as he struggled to remember more of the details about where they'd landed. He could envision stepping out of the TARDIS onto a fairly normal looking planet. He remembered Rose's infectious grin of excitement as they explored the small town they'd arrived at. But what planet was it? There was something… he could see one of the inhabitants, but it was hard to make out the details… The Doctor concentrated harder on the memory.

Then, at last, it cleared in his mind. He could see a large, squat humanoid with stumpy limbs, but an elongated neck. Its skin was green, almost grey in spots, and appeared to have a papery texture. It wore a swath of fabric, tied around its body like a Roman toga. The eyes were wide set and black, beady and searching. There was no discernible nose or ears that he could see, no hair either. The mouth was shaped almost like a beak, the upper "lip" was hooked over the lower, and the expression this gave the alien was that of a permanent grimace. With sinking hearts, the Doctor realised that he recognised this species.

He looked from Rose back to the melted wall and the crowd of aliens that were gathered on the other side. There were all different species there, but he did see several more of these aliens from his newly recaptured memories. They were Eltrutians. Which meant they had landed on Eltrut III and they were currently residing in the famous Grand Zoo of the Galaxy. The Doctor groaned as he sat back on the sofa.

Rose looked at him, concerned. "What? Did you remember? Where are we?"

He told her where he believed they were. He was 99% sure, given that the Eltrutians were such a distinctive looking race and hadn't made much of a habit of spreading to other star systems. Furthermore, they were in a zoo, and the Eltrutians were known far and wide to have the most extensive zoo in the universe. It was quite the tourist destination, in fact.

"People come from all around to visit this zoo," he told her. "There is no other zoo, anywhere and during any other time, which has as many species in its collection. If we hadn't been on random, I would have never brought us here, you have to believe me. Not that I would have thought they would capture us, but mostly because I find zoos rather creepy and depressing."

Rose hummed in agreement and sunk her teeth into her lower lip. "Do you know _when_ we are then?" she asked.

The Doctor tugged on his ear and reached out with his time senses. He looked to the aliens on the other side of the melted wall, some of whom were actively taking their picture now, and sighed. "It's hard to pinpoint, but I'm going to guess we're in the forty-sixth century. The level of technology is right and the Grand Zoo was in its heyday during that century."

He realised when he looked back at her, that Rose had been staring at his mouth for the last several minutes. Why was he just noticing that now? Why was it making his hearts pound a little harder and his blood heat up? And why was the sight of her amber eyes trained on his mouth drawing his eyes down to her pouty, pink lips? Blimey, but she had a gorgeous mouth. This wasn't the first time he'd noticed as much either. Inappropriate as it was, he'd thought of her mouth quite often over the last couple of years. He wondered what her mouth tasted like, what it felt like… what he could put into it…

With a start, he caught himself and his eyes flew back to hers. From the way her face flushed as she stared at him, he guessed that her thoughts had been less than innocent as well. Scrambling, he jumped up off the sofa and retreated to the other side of the room. This wasn't right. What was going on here? Why did his thoughts keep swinging back to Rose and what her skin might look like underneath that frilly pink dress? The Doctor rubbed a hand down his face. Oh, no. No, no, no. He dropped into the chair he'd woken up in and dropped his head into his hands. He tried to remember everything he knew about the Eltrutians and their practices, hoping against all hope that his instincts were wrong.

"Doctor?" Rose sounded tentative. "What now?"

The Doctor groaned and sat back, staring up at the textured ceiling. He tried to analyse everything running through his blood stream, see if he could isolate anything specific. After a few moments concentration, he groaned again. Unfortunately, he _could_ isolate a few things. It wasn't good.

"Talk to me! You're scaring me!" she cried and he sat up to see her crouched in front of him, face still flushed, but a decidedly alarmed expression on her beautiful features. It made him want to hold her and reassure her and…

He sat up more and looked her square in the eye. "We've been drugged," he told her.

A little crinkle formed adorably between her brows. "Well, of course we have," she replied. "That's how we ended up here, waking up all groggy, yeah?"

The Doctor nodded. "I'm talking about in addition to knocking us out. I've been dosed with both an impulse inhibitor as well as a pheromone stimulant. I'm not completely sure, but I'm willing to guess that you have been too. I'd need to analyse your chemistry to find out for sure."

Now Rose's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What does that all mean, though? And how would you analyse my chemistry? I don't see any lab equipment around here, do you?"

"I could probably get a good enough sample by licking," he mused and his eyes flicked up to hers. She flushed again and he felt a tightening in his abdomen. "Y-your wrist, I mean. Licking your wrist."

"Oh," she said, her voice small. Then, she held her wrist in front of him. "Okay, do your worst."

He hesitated for a moment. Was it really the best idea to _taste_ Rose, considering how compromised he was regarding her at the moment? Well, if he were being honest, he was always compromised when it came to Rose. Controlling his body's reactions to her when she was around was a constant battle. But he took a deep breath, hoping to steel his restraint, and then took her wrist in his hand. Quickly, before he could ponder the merits of drawing out the experience more than necessary, he swiped his tongue across the pulse point on her wrist. Then he dropped her hand and tried to focus making his analysis rather than on the taste of her skin underneath his tongue.

It was a little more time-consuming than if he'd had a taste of her blood (and a good sight less unpleasant for all involved). He smacked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and tried to separate out the normal hormones that should be found in Rose from what he suspected was there. And… yep. There it was. The same traces of sedative, the same inhibitor, and the same pheromone booster. Fantastic.

"Yep, they got you too," he confirmed and Rose groaned her frustration. He didn't want to point out that these additives they'd been drugged with were likely to affect her far more easily, and more _quickly_ , than they affected him. His metabolism would more quickly process the hormones and he could better isolate their effects on his biology. He didn't think that learning this was likely to make her feel any better, however, so he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"So what does that mean?" she wanted to know.

"It means," he began, drawing it out, dreading what he had to tell her, "that our captors are likely expecting us to… _engageinsexualintercourse_. But what we should really be focusing on right now is remembering how we got here and how we can get out. Yes, escape should be our primary focus. Would be a lot easier if I had my sonic but I'm nothing if not a brilliant improvisor. Remember that time I improvised us out of prison on Urak Major? That was amazing, if I do say so myself. The sooner we can get out of here, we can get back to the TARDIS and get away from Eltrut III and you best believe I'll be making sure to remove these coordinates from the TARDIS randomiser, yes indeed!"

Rose blinked at him and then squinted her eyes. "Wait. Back up. What did you say they want us to do?"

"Nothing important. The important thing is our _escape_ , Rose. Try to keep up!" he said, trying to ignore the nervousness in the pit of his stomach. He pulled at his ear.

"No, it's not 'nothing important'. Tell me, Doctor," she said firmly.

The Doctor flushed and tugged on his ear harder. "They expect us to have sexual intercourse, Rose."

Whatever he had been expecting Rose's reaction to be, be it horror or embarrassment or outright denial, he certainly hadn't been expecting her to throw back her head and laugh. Which is exactly what she did. She hooted with laugher, the peals ringing off the walls of their enclosure. Several of the aliens watching them snapped pictures with their cameras as she laughed, clutching at his arm to keep herself steady. Finally, she tapered off and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she panted, still giggling, "but that's just hilarious."

The Doctor sniffed, unsure if he should feel a little offended by her reaction. "How is this revelation at all hilarious?"

"Because!" she cried, as if that should explain it all. When he just raised his eyebrows at her in response, she elaborated. "You don't do that sort of thing. These Eltrutians sure got ripped off with you, didn't they? They would have been ahead nabbing a human male to try to get me into the sack with."

Oh yes, he's definitely offended now. "You just assume!" he cried, indignant.

Rose dissolved into laughter again before collecting herself. "Assume? Honey, I _know_."

"As I've told you before, I have definitely… done _that_ before," he reminded her.

"How could I forget? You were so adorable, all insecure in that hospital basement in 1941," she said, her eyes glinting. "Well, at any rate, you don't do that with _humans_."

The Doctor merely raised an eyebrow at her. All laughter stopped and Rose stilled as she regarded him.

"What, seriously?"

He lifted a shoulder in a shrug and looked away, suddenly uncomfortable with the urge he had to touch her.

"Well, not like it matters anyhow. We're drugged and in a zoo," she said, waving a hand in the air as if it didn't matter, but he could just about see through her casual façade. It did matter, somehow. Interesting.

"Yes, we are. For now. We'll figure a way out, I promise," he replied and smiled at her encouragingly, hoping that she would smile back at him and that everything would still be okay with them after this was over.

She did. Her smile lit up the room and warmed his soul and he instantly felt better about the whole situation.

"I can resist if you can, Doctor," she teased, poking her tongue out of her grin; he was surprised that he found that gesture of hers more soothing than arousing in this moment.

"Time Lord biology," he bragged, thumping his chest with a fist. "I can resist whatever they throw at me."

 **Chapter 3**

Chapter Summary

Their captors are getting increasingly frustrated with the Doctor and Rose and their apparent shyness and step up the game.

Again huge thanks to lunarsilverwolfstar for her beta fu and to the rest of the gals who have encouraged this fic for MONTHS now and finally, to all of you for reading along and commenting! I really appreciate it!

Rose didn't really believe in "tempting fate", but the Doctor's proclamation of being able to resist anything their captors threw at them seemed to be, at the very least, somewhat foolhardy. Obviously, their captors could hear and understand them. And clearly, they expected results.

It wasn't long at all after the Doctor had boldly declared himself immune to the hormones that the not-a-door he'd discovered earlier opened and in walked a pair of Eltrutians. One carried a small bag and both wore white aprons over their toga-like garments. Rose had tried not to gawk at their strange appearance. Their proportions seemed to be opposite those of a human; the strange shape of their necks and heads combined with their beady black eyes made Rose's skin crawl. The Doctor seemed as nonplussed as he ever was and strode forward to greet them.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor. This is Rose Tyler. There seems to have been some sort of mistake," he said, his voice loud and cheerful.

The aliens regarded both of them dispassionately. "There has been no mistake," one of them said in a rasping voice.

The Doctor was _not_ about to give up just yet. "I think maybe there has been. You see, we're just travellers, passing through. Furthermore, as you can plainly see, we are sentient beings and therefore protected from enslavement by the Shadow Proclamation."

The Eltrutian holding the bag set it down on one of the small tables and turned to face him. "You are not enslaved. You are here as our guests."

Rose snorted. "I don't remember being invited, do you, Doctor?"

"No, I do not, Rose," he replied, flashing her a grin. Then, he turned back to the Elutrians with a stern look. "You captured us. I can't quite remember how you did it, but you did. Against our will. If we were truly your guests, you would let us leave when we so desired."

"We think you will be happier here with us," one of them said and, blimey, Rose was having a hard time keeping track of which was which. They looked absolutely identical!

"Wanna bet?" Rose grumbled. "This dress is itchy as heck."

One of the aliens stepped up to her and she didn't like way his beady eyes regarded her. "Actually, what we're here to do might help with that."

"What?" she asked, feeling dread pool in the pit of her stomach.

The other alien spoke now. "We've been unsatisfied with the lack of copulatory action between you so we've been instructed to come in here and retrieve your garments. The head of the zoo has studied humans and he is quite sure that exposure of skin is considered arousing in your species."

Rose's mouth fell open. Wait, they were here to take their clothes? Was this some sort of freakish nightmare? As her mind raced, the Doctor stepped up to the aliens with the full Oncoming Storm brimming in his dark eyes.

"Now listen here. We will not give you our clothes. You will, however, let us leave this facility at once. This is your last chance," he growled.

"You will find that you are wearing _our_ clothes," one of the aliens pointed out. "And you will be staying here with us as long as we chose to have you."

"I'm not taking my kit off for you perverts," she insisted.

"And I'm not even human, so you Eltrutians are way off. Your tactics will not work on me!" the Doctor informed them.

The aliens exchanged looks. "We have orders. Either you will take off your garments or we will be forced to sedate you again and we will remove them ourselves. It is up to you."

Rose glanced at the Doctor to see him staring at the aliens, his jaw clenched. He looked pale and intense. She could tell he didn't like the idea of being sedated again any more than she did. Would they lose more memories, like before? Plus, the mere idea of their clawed fingers touching her and removing her clothes made her shudder. Realistically, she knew it had to have happened before since she wasn't wearing the clothes she'd put on at the start of the day. She hadn't just appeared in this enclosure wearing this ridiculous dress, after all. She didn't like to think about the particulars of that and if there was something she could do to avoid it happening again, well, she was all for that.

"Oh, fine," she grumbled and she began to reach behind her for a zipper. "Have it your way."

The Doctor gaped at her for a moment before flushing and turning away. Rose stifled a chuckle. It wasn't that she liked the idea of stripping, not with him here, not with the Eltrutians watching them, and not with the crowd outside that wall, straining their necks to get a glimpse at what was going on. His modesty and prudishness was rather laughable in this situation, though.

Quickly, he began to shuck the suit they'd dressed him in. Rose tried to keep her eyes averted as he removed the suit jacket and tie, and began to unbutton his oxford. She tried to reach around to undo the halter around her neck, but her fingers wouldn't quite work the buttons.

"Doctor? Could you maybe help me out here? I can't quite reach," she said, hating to ask when he was obviously feeling so uncomfortable, but not wanting to ask the Eltrutians for assistance either. As she glanced at the aliens, she was at least somewhat mollified to notice that they didn't seem to care one way or another for their state of dress. Well, at least they weren't getting off on this.

"Sure," he mumbled and she turned her back to him, lifting her hair off the back of her neck. She felt his cool fingers brush against the skin of her neck and she fought not to respond to the stimulus. He seemed to move slower than she expected and wondered if he was gazing at her skin, where the zipper gaped open at her back. A flash of warmth chased through her at the thought.

Finally, he worked the buttons and the halter fell loose. Rose reached up to hold the fabric to her chest as she stepped away and turned to him. "Thanks," she murmured. He was staring at her, his eyes dark. Time Lord restraint, eh? She wasn't buying that. Did this heated look mean he actually wanted her?

When they'd spoken before, she'd truly though that he didn't have such carnal desires, especially not towards humans. Then he'd given her that look and now she thought that maybe he had, at least in the past, shagged a human. Perhaps multiple humans. She didn't like to dwell on that thought and liked even less the implications of why she didn't like to dwell on that. Still, the revelation opened a door, somewhat, to him perhaps desiring her. Then again, they'd been travelling together for about two years now. Surely if he had desired her before, he would have acted on it by now. So, maybe it was just _her_ that he didn't fancy that way. Well. That was a rather humbling thought.

She loved him. She'd finally admitted the truth of her feelings to herself when he'd sent her back home from Satellite Five. Then, he'd regenerated and everything had been thrown into question again. It had taken her a bit to finally come to grips with the fact that he was the same man, but once she had, she'd realised she still loved him just as much. The problem was, she had no idea how he felt about her. There had been times she'd thought he might fancy her; he'd been so jealous of her and Mickey, after all. His new self seemed so much better at hiding what he was thinking and feeling, and while they flirted constantly, she was never sure how he really felt. To say that it was frustrating would be putting it mildly.

Still, she would never leave him. Even if he could never give her that sort of relationship, she would be happy just to keep travelling with him. Sex or not, he was her best friend and they fit together like puzzle pieces. She couldn't imagine her life without him and she knew that he needed her every bit as much.

Rose pushed the dress past her hips and it landed with a swish around her ankles. She stepped out of it and then picked up the cursed garment, thrusting it at the nearest Eltrutian. She was left wearing a bra and knickers, but even those were mostly authentic to the 1950s vibe. The bra was strapless and long, almost coming down to the bottom of her ribcage. The cups were covered in white lace and the wire wasn't just underneath the breast but encircled it entirely. She rather felt like she was being stuffed into a sausage casing. The knickers were a bit of a relief as well. They were styled more like tap pants, made of light, shimmery pink silk and trimmed with delicate white lace at the legs. There was a small gap between the bottom of the bra and the waistband of the knickers, but the exposed skin was minimal. She breathed a sigh of relief as she retrieved the heels she'd been wearing earlier and returned them to the Eltrutian. Wearing her underthings or not, this was _far_ more comfortable.

The Doctor was just finishing, having removed his trousers along with the rest of his suit. He stood in striped cotton boxer shorts and a white cotton vest, handing his socks, shoes, hat, trousers, oxford, jacket, and tie to the other Eltrutian. The alien gladly accepted the garments, but then gestured at the Doctor.

"You are not finished disrobing," it told him. Rose wanted to assume this alien was a male, but honestly she had no idea. Maybe they didn't even have males and females on this planet.

He gaped at the vaguely reptilian alien and looked down at himself. "I'm down to my underwear! I surely _am_ finished!" he spluttered angrily. Then he gestured at her without turning to look at her. "She gets to keep her underthings on!"

"We will allow you the pants, but the vest must come off," the alien answered.

The Doctor swore in a language that the TARDIS wasn't translating as he tore the vest off and threw it at the Eltrutian.

They were thanked for their cooperation and then the aliens left the room, taking their clothes with them. Rose stood next to the lava lamp, trying not to look bothered, but feeling disturbed by the way the Doctor wouldn't even glance at her. He was standing stiffly next to the door, glaring at the wall as if he could will it to open. She knew she was probably imagining things, but she was getting this vague impression that he couldn't stand to be near her now that she wasn't wearing proper clothes. Her ego was taking a heavy beating.

After a few more minutes of silence, Rose decided that enough was enough. "You can look at me, you know," she snapped peevishly. She moved to the sofa and sat down, curling her feet underneath her bum as she sat.

The Doctor didn't turn around. "No, I can't."

"Don't be ridiculous," she admonished him. "This is no different from all those times that I wore a bathing suit when we visited the beach or went swimming in the TARDIS pool. I know for a fact that my favourite bikini shows more skin than this."

"Yes, it is," he said, his voice still quiet, the line of his bare back stiff and unmoving.

"How? How is it different?"

He turned around then and she got the first good look she'd ever had of his bare torso. Yes, he'd gone swimming with her, but he'd always worn a vest or a rash guard. A few times, during impromptu swims, he'd even jumped in the pool whilst still wearing his suit! At least he'd taken his Chucks off first. But this… why on Earth was he going to such great lengths to hide _this_?

He was a lean guy, there was no denying that. But his shoulders and chest were broad and strong. His collarbones were defined and sculpted, further emphasising the expanse of his shoulders. There was a smattering of dark chest hair across his pectoral muscles and, oh, he was definitely more muscled than she'd expected him to be. Then, there was the flat, but toned, planes of his abdomen, leading down to his stomach where his navel drew her eye, more soft hair trailing down and disappearing into the waistband of his boxers. He was absolutely _gorgeous_.

"It just is, Rose," he said, his voice still quiet, but his eyes were dark on hers. His gaze didn't stray from her face, though his eyes all but drilled into her. "They expect us to… you know… _together_."

Good grief, he couldn't even _say_ it. Rose grumbled in frustration. "I am well aware of that," she said through clenched teeth. "But I don't see why that should mean you can't even look at me. Why you can't even talk to me. Am I that hideous?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "What? No, Rose, of course not!"

"Then why are you acting so weird with me? Aren't we friends?" she asked.

He stepped over and sat on the sofa, being sure to leave a cushion's width between them. He ran a hand through his hair and spoke. "I don't want to do anything… inappropriate."

Rose sighed. This wasn't helping her bruised ego any. "So don't," she said simply. "You were the one who said you had fancy Time Lord biology and could resist anything."

He made a noise that sounded somewhat strangled. "You would think so, wouldn't you? But apparently, Rose Tyler, the antidote to my 'fancy Time Lord biology' is _you_. And I don't want to do anything that we will both regret."

She struggled to understand what he was saying. The mixed signals were starting to confuse her. "So wait. Are you saying…?"

"I want you, Rose. I want you and I can't have you."

 **Chapter 4**

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the Eltrutians make things even more uncomfortable for our loveable pair. How will the Doctor react now?

Big thanks to my long-suffering beta, lunarsilverwolfstar, whom I whip daily to give me chapters. You're a doll! Also, thanks to my girls and a special mention to Lain21 because honestly, if not for her input then zoofic might have remained packed away in the attic with the rest of my abandoned stories!

The Doctor spent the rest of the day cursing himself for his outburst. The hormones were affecting him a little, though he was able to control himself well enough. It was Rose that was wearing him down, however. It had been a moment of weakness for him; he'd been struggling so hard not to be aware of her, aware of her state of undress, aware of the pheromones she was pumping out... After he'd admitted to her that he wanted her, Rose had turned a most becoming shade of pink. He'd had to tear his eyes away. She tried to get him to elaborate, to share more with her, but he'd clammed up. He'd already said too much, after all.

He'd carefully kept his distance after that and, after a few hurt looks, Rose had let him. There wasn't much to entertain oneself with in this enclosure. There were a few books on top of the small tables, so she'd finally given in and leafed through one. The Doctor sat in the far corner, near the loo, concentrating on breaking down the hormones and inhibitors in his bloodstream. He wasn't getting very far; however the Eltrutians were synthesising this stuff, they were clearly at the top of their game. It was lucky that he was able to resist the worst of the effects or else he would have been on her by now.

Which begged the question: how was Rose resisting? Judging by how he was feeling, she should have been beside herself by now. It was always possible that women processed these sorts of hormones differently than men. Maybe that was it. Well, just as long as things stayed on this (rather precarious) path, maybe he could keep his head long enough to think of a way out of this situation.

What was it they said about "famous last words"?

The zoo had closed and the "wall" had re-solidified. Evening meals had been delivered by the same Eltrutians that had taken their clothes from them earlier. The Doctor and Rose had sat on opposite ends of the sofa once more, picking at the plate of beans and rice, and making small talk. Very small talk. In fact, the talk could even be described as minuscule. Rose's responses to his innocent questions were one or two words at the most. After she'd finished eating, she'd gone to use the loo (asking him to plug his ears first) and then washed up in the small sink that was set into the wall next to the loo. He'd picked up the book she was looking at earlier and, while he sat in the chair to read, she settled on the sofa and went to sleep. And that was that.

The next morning, instead of dawning brighter (not that they could see the dawn, as their enclosure was entirely without windows), brought new challenges for them right away. Rose had no sooner woken up and taken her turn with the loo than the Eltrutians had been back. This time, they were upping the ante. In a big way.

After two plates of food were set on the tables, the Doctor and Rose were ordered to remove their underthings. They were provided with simple loincloths to wear instead. The aliens allowed Rose to change into hers behind the curtain around the loo, but the Doctor was forced to change in front of them. He thanked whatever deities out there that he didn't believe in that at least the zoo hadn't opened for the day yet and the wall was still intact. It wasn't much privacy, but it was better than a gawking crowd.

He'd asked the Eltrutians what the purpose of the loincloths were. They looked bored and simply repeated what they'd said before, about skin exposure and arousal. Yet again he tried to tell him that he wasn't human, but they didn't seem to care. Apparently, it was enough to _look_ human to this lot.

Rose had emerged from behind the curtain just as he was securing his loincloth. She had her arms crossed over her breasts and she looked very much like someone who was trying not to act like they were uncomfortable. His hearts twisted in sympathy for her and he tried desperately not to let the sight of so much of her flesh affect him. The last thing he wanted to do was add to her discomfort.

After handing over their underthings, the Doctor had expected the Eltrutians to leave them. However, one had removed a few syringes from the sack they carried and the Doctor had gone immediately on the defensive. They wanted to up both of their doses of hormones and inhibitors, hoping that a combination of that with the loincloths would finally produce some "results". Rose had glared and yelled at the aliens just as much as him, if not more. Unfortunately, as much as they didn't want to be sedated again, neither of them were in any position to stop it. In the end, there was no choice but to submit to the injections.

So now, Rose was sitting in what he was coming to think of as "her spot" on the sofa, clutching a throw pillow to her chest, and he could tell she was upset. She was fighting the hormones, and probably exhaustion that was both physical and mental. He wanted to go to her, put his arms around her and comfort her. He wanted to assure her that they would be okay, they would _always_ be okay, but he didn't dare. If he touched her, if he looked at her for more than ten seconds at a time, or even smelled her from closer than across the room, he was going to snap. She was vulnerable right now and he could _not_ do that to her.

From his chair, he glanced over at her and saw that she was shaking. He couldn't tell if it was from emotions or from the hormones. Probably both. Again, he practically ached to comfort her, but he just didn't know how to get it done safely. Finally, he couldn't stand the tension in the room any longer. He had to break it.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he said, keeping his eyes downcast.

"For what? This isn't your fault," she replied quietly.

"I remembered what happened," he told her. Then he took a deep breath. "We arrived here on random, just like you said yesterday. There's no other way I would have brought you to this planet, Rose. You have to believe that. I know about the Eltrutians and I knew about this zoo. I hate zoos, as a rule. I don't believe in caging up species just so tourists can gawk at them. There are far better methods for observing animals and people other than confining them and humiliating them like this. Unfortunately, I didn't realise where we'd landed until we were well into the city. I'd suggested we head back to the TARDIS, I didn't tell you what I knew and I'm sorry, and we were just heading back. But before we could get out of the city, they jumped us and drugged us."

Rose was quiet for a minute and he chanced another look at her. She was biting her lip and picking at the edging on the throw pillow. She looked beautiful. He wanted to tell her so badly he had to bite back the words.

"But you tried to get us back to the TARDIS, soon as you knew," she pointed out. She still wasn't looking at him. She was still shaking.

"I should be able to protect you from things like this," he muttered, as much for himself as for her but she heard him anyhow.

"It's getting… more difficult," she finally said and her voice was very strained. He didn't prod her further, but he thought he knew what she was referring to. "I can smell you, from clear over there."

The Doctor shifted in his seat. What could he say to that? That he could smell her too? That he could always smell her, even when they hadn't been drugged like this? Should he tell her that now, in these close quarters with all these hormones flying around and her hardly wearing a stitch of clothing (he could see vast expanses of smooth, creamy skin), that he was so close to breaking all of his own rules that he was frankly amazed he was still sitting in this chair? He barely saw the tourists gawking in through the transparent wall as he looked at her.

"I know it's hard, Rose," he said and then he winced at his own choice of words. A throbbing in his groin reminded him of just how hard it was. "Erm, I mean, I understand how you feel. It's getting difficult for me too." It was just a little fib. What good would it do to tell her that it'd been difficult all along?

Still, even as he sat there, he could feel this latest injection coursing through his body and though he was trying to tamp it back like he had the last time, he was finding it hard to catch all the pheromones and inhibitor hormones. He was fairly sure that his hands were starting to sweat and he literally could not remember the last time that had happened. Wiping his hands on his loincloth, the Doctor stood up and paced over to the transparent wall, glaring out at the assembled tourists. A giant blob with a camera snapped his picture.

"Doctor?"

He stiffened. She was standing right behind him now and her voice was tentative, but also, oh, he could detect the tremor there. The pheromones and impulse inhibitors were definitely having a more marked effect on her now, and he absolutely hated that she had to go through this. It wasn't fair to her, to have her desires controlled like this. The Doctor was rather certain that, were she in her right mind, she would never want him. When he finally got them out of here and they got back to the TARDIS, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel humiliated and regretful.

"Rose, you'd better go stand over there," he said, turning to her to gesture back in the direction of the sofa. Turning around was a mistake.

Rose stood directly before him and the expression on her face was positively wanton. Her eyes were lidded and dark, her skin flushed and her chest heaving with her laboured breathing. Her lips, already plump and gorgeous and the stuff of his fantasies, were dark and pouting. The scent that was pouring off her shot through his system, stimulating his nerve endings and pooling desire in his groin. She wore only the loincloth and he struggled to keep his focus on her face, but his eyes drifted down of their own accord and, blimey, this was more of Rose than he'd ever dared hope to see. She exhaled and he felt her fingers trailing up his arm, causing the hairs there to stand on end with awareness.

"Rose, please," he begged, closing his eyes and hoping that not seeing her would help calm him. It didn't. Because with his eyes closed, now he could smell her arousal even more sharply. The strong and spicy tones surrounded him, and infused him, and every inch of him was now achingly aware of her. He even felt the slight shift in the air as she moved closer to him, the brush of her breasts against the bare skin of his chest. He groaned this time, unable to stifle it.

The Doctor opened his eyes just in time to see Rose rise up on her toes to press her lips to his. Her soft, warm lips glided against his and her tongue brushed against his lower lip, tasting, teasing, and requesting further access. Sweet Rassilon's ghost, he could taste her… sweet and delicious, refreshing and stimulating. His inhibitions were at an all time low and all the reasons he had for resisting her, for resisting _this_ , were scattering like dead leaves in the wind. He wanted to let go, to wrap his arms around her and crush her body to his, to plunder her mouth and fuse his very being with hers.

 _No_! He couldn't! There was still a shred of his restraint remaining, quickly being crowded out by his growing lust, and it was screaming at him to stop this, to save them both.

While his body protested, begging to respond to Rose's exquisite kiss, he wrenched himself away from her, stumbling back until he had to grab at the back of the chair to steady himself. Rose was watching him, her chest heaving, her eyes wide and… oh Rassilon, _hurt_. She wrapped her arms around her chest as her eyes filled with tears.

Anger surged through him, warring with the fierce arousal that still threatened to overcome him. It flashed through him as he grabbed the lava lamp off the small table next to his chair and hurled it at the wall where the invisible door was located. "Let us out of here!" he roared. "This is enough! You will not do this to us. Let. Us. Out!"

The fury had hold of him now; he kicked over the chair and threw the small table at the wall where groups of aliens had gathered to watch. They jumped back now, alarmed at his outburst. He continued to throw anything he could get his hands on, shouting at their captors to free them, letting the rage flow through his veins like lava. And then, he saw Rose.

She was cowered against the far wall, curled in on herself. Tears were streaking down her face and she appeared to be trying to hide from him. Suddenly, the fight left him and he crumbled to the floor, the shame of his outburst overwhelming him.

Before he had a chance to reassure her, however, the invisible door opened and a whole group of Eltrutians marched in. They were on him in a flash, all of them, holding him down and subduing him. The Doctor got a glimpse of a syringe before it was plunged into his neck and then everything went dark.

 **Chapter 5**

Chapter Summary

In the aftermath of the Doctor's outburst, the Eltrutians have taken drastic measures, Rose and the Doctor have a much needed discussion and Rose's predicament becomes dire.

Thank you so much, lunarsilverstarwolf, for helping me out with beta'ing this. I know its a lot all at once! And thanks to everyone else, especially Lain21 and Value Turtle for their invaluable support!

Everything happened so quickly that Rose hardly had time to react. By the time she got over her initial shock at the swarm of Eltrutians that swarmed into their enclosure, they had the Doctor down and were injecting him, directly into his neck.

"No!" she screamed, finally regaining her mobility and leaping to her feet. "Don't!"

As the Doctor's body relaxed and his eyes slid closed, one of the two aliens that had been securing his left leg jumped up and intercepted her. The Eltrutian grabbed at her arms, trying to prevent her from getting to him, to this man that meant everything to her, and she fought against him, fiercely. Another one of the aliens darted forward to help subdue her.

"Your friend is fine. We've only given him a mild sedative," the Eltrutian that had grabbed her first said soothingly.

"Bullshit," she growled, "that sedative of yours removes memories! Why are you doing this to him?"

Two of the aliens loaded the Doctor's now prone form onto a litter and walked him out of the room. The third stepped up to her with what she supposed for them was a placating expression. "What we just gave him was a diluted form of the initial sedative that was administered to you when we acquired you two days ago," the alien explained. "He was frightening you. We saw that on our monitors."

Rose cringed a little. Yes, she'd been awed at the ferocity of his outburst. She'd thought she'd seen the desire she felt for him mirrored in his eyes, and there had been something about the way he smelled and his proximity… kissing him had been inevitable. However, he hadn't responded to her. Even worse, he had pushed her away and then had flown into a rage. She'd seen the Doctor angry many, many times in the past. It had been a more common occurrence before he had regenerated, when she was still new on board the TARDIS and he'd been fresh from the Time War. He had calmed with time, though, and now, only extreme circumstances brought out the Oncoming Storm. But nothing, _nothing_ had ever been like what she'd just witnessed. This was a Doctor out of control, mindless and raging. It had been amazing and incredible and frightening.

Yet, she hadn't been afraid of _him_. Somehow she knew, with bone-deep certainty, that the Doctor would never hurt her. Not physically, at least. Emotionally, oh, he seemed to have a direct line to causing her heart torment. His rejection of her advances had cut her deep, and seeing his violent reaction in the face of what she'd offered him had destroyed any hope she'd had that maybe they could have something together. Reduced inhibitions and increased pheromones or not, she loved him and desired him, and had for quite some time now. There were some things that artificial chemicals could not reproduce.

She tried to explain to the Eltrutian that she hadn't been scared of him. She asked them to not take him away, but her pleading fell on deaf ears as the aliens began removing items from the enclosure. They started with the things the Doctor had thrown and broken, but eventually they removed everything, including the ridiculous little Christmas tree. All that remained was the carpeting and the loo in the corner. And that blasted curtain hiding the not-a-window. With the lamps gone, she now noticed that the room was lit from somewhere in the ceiling, something she couldn't quite see. The room was large, bare, and empty now. Once the Eltrutians finally withdrew, Rose curled up miserably in the corner.

She rested her forehead on her knees and must have fallen asleep because she suddenly became aware of a commotion on the other side of the curtain. The sounds were muffled, but it almost sounded like… shouting. _The Doctor_!

She leapt to her feet and pulled the curtain aside, banging on the transparent surface. "Doctor! I'm here!"

Faintly, she made out the sound of her name being shouted. Then, there was more muted yelling, followed by a thumping noise. A moment later, the curtain on her side of the not-a-window began to withdraw. She gaped at where it disappeared into an opening in the wall before noticing that there appeared to be an identical curtain being drawn aside on the other side as well. She then saw the Doctor standing on the other side, disheveled. but otherwise looking just fine. He looked desperately relieved to see her and she was sure she looked much the same to him.

He began to speak, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She mimed a hand at her ear and he made a frustrated face before turning to the Eltrutian that she now noticed standing behind him. A moment later, the alien pressed a button on a remote he held in his hand.

"Your friend can hear you now."

The Doctor turned back to her, grinning now. "Rose! Are you okay?"

She couldn't help but grin back. "I'm fine. What about you, though? They knocked you out!"

"They gave me a diluted dose. I woke up as they were bringing me in here," he told her. "I got a little angry, demanded to know where you were."

Warmth suffused her at his words. She took a moment to look around the room he was in. It looked identical in size to her enclosure, but without the carpeting and painted walls. There was no furniture in his enclosure either, but it looked as though there never had been. It looked rather like a blank slate, waiting for a "theme" to bring it to life.

"I was so worried about you," she admitted, feeling suddenly bashful and tightening her arms around her torso.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and then tugged on his ear. "Rose, I'm sorry that I… I didn't mean to scare you. Before."

She hurried to reassure him. "You didn't! I mean… I- I wasn't afraid of you."

"But you were crying, Rose. I saw you." His face was drawn and pinched at the memory.

She bit her lip. "I was just… You didn't…" she said, her voice trailing off weakly. Frustrated and embarrassed, she turned and, with her back against the barrier between them, slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

She heard rustling and decided he was likely settling down onto the floor on his side of the wall. "Rose… I wasn't rejecting you." His voice was thick with kindness and it made her want to scream.

She laughed harshly before she caught herself. "Could have fooled me, Doctor," she muttered. "You did fool me."

"Rose," he said and the low tone of his voice sent an arrow of arousal to her core, in spite of herself. She shivered.

"I kissed you," she said quietly. "I _kissed_ you. For some crazy reason, for an instant there, I thought you might kiss me back. But… no. You flipped out instead."

She heard the soft sound of him exhaling. "It wasn't like that," he promised her. "I couldn't… do that."

Rose rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "I figured that was probably the case," she murmured. "So what is it, can Time Lords only 'do it' with other Time Lords?"

There was a thud and she turned to see him bang his head back against the barrier.

"Doctor?"

"It's not quite like that, Rose," he admitted.

"Feel like telling me?" she asked, gentling her voice. "We have the time."

He chuckled and half-turned, mirroring her position. "I'd probably bore you with it," he told her and he sounded a bit bitter to her ears. "The Time Lords were a rather boring lot."

She wasn't going to let this drop now, not when she had him talking. "Is it that you're asexual? I learned about that in school… means you can, but you don't care to have sex?"

Rose snuck a glance at him and saw he was blushing, clear up to the tips of his ears. "No. Well, not entirely," he said and he glanced at her. He chuckled at what must have been a very confused expression on her face. "And asexuality does, er, _did_ , happen in Time Lords just like it happens in humans. Well, that's not entirely accurate either. I'd say it's probably more common in Time Lords than it is humans, but that's mostly due to the fact that biological reproduction had been bred out of us."

"What, you're serious?" she blurted, gaping at him.

"Completely. Gallifreyans are loomed. Just another way of saying they genetically engineered their offspring. Biological imperatives, the need and desire to have children and propagate one's species, faded almost entirely. I would guess that most Time Lords were asexual by the time the Time War came about. But it wasn't as simple as just that either," the Doctor informed her.

"Of course it wasn't," she remarked drily. Was anything simple with this man?

"There's regeneration to take in account. Some regenerations might be asexual, some might not. Now, like I said, being asexual was fairly prevalent in Gallifreyan society towards the end, so it wasn't uncommon to have Time Lords that were asexual in _every_ regeneration. And, every once in a while, there would be a Time Lord that would be sexual in every regeneration, but that was very, very rare. Then, there were those that would switch between sexual and asexual, generally unpredictably."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "And you? Which way do you fall?"

He swallowed carefully and she followed the movement of his Adam's apple with her gaze. "The last sort. I've had a few regenerations that were asexual. And some have been sexual."

She huffed impatiently, suspicious that he was dancing around the subject. "What about now, Doctor? What about this body? What about the one… before?"

The Doctor was quiet for a moment and she peered at him. He was practically gnawing on his lower lip. She focused on that, getting lost for a moment in the fantasy of nibbling on his lips herself. She caught herself, remembering that she still had all these hormones coursing through her body, affecting her arousal.

"This body is sexual," he finally said, his voice rough. She felt her face flush. "So was the one before."

Interesting. She considered that nugget of information for a few moments, imagining his previous body and what it would have felt like to have his rough hands on her body. Then, she remembered… "You never did say if you'd ever… y'know… with a human."

He was quiet again, but only for a moment. "I have," he said, quietly.

"With a companion?" Oh, she'd wanted to ask this question for a while now. Ever since meeting Sarah Jane and learning that travelling with other people, particularly humans, was something he'd done quite a bit of. A vision of him, trapping her against the console and ravishing her body, flashed through her mind. She tried to quash it.

"No, never a companion," he clarified firmly. "Well, not any human companions. Romana and I were… complicated."

Rose snorted at that. "Romana?"

"She was another Time Lord. Travelled with me for a while."

He seemed reluctant to talk about it. Considering what had happened to his planet and all his people, she wasn't surprised. She shifted the conversation subtly. "I'm guessing you don't mean complicated like how you and I are complicated," she said, mostly joking and hoping to lighten the moment.

"No, Rose, you are something else altogether," the Doctor murmured thoughtfully.

She was afraid to ask for any more clarification on that. Didn't want to press her luck, after all. As they sat there in silence, her thoughts began to get the better of her again, and her thoughts were not innocent. Rose mulled over what she now understood about Gallifreyan sexuality, and began to wonder even more about the Doctor and his… prowess. He'd had sex. He'd had sex with humans. He'd even said that he wanted her. There had to be something other than just attraction and compatibility keeping him from responding to her, right?

As the silence stretched out, she began to fantasise. Dreaming about the Doctor, before or after his regeneration, was hardly unfamiliar territory for her. In the past, she'd always kept such thoughts to herself, until she was alone in her room after another one of their adventures. But now, her hormones were roiling and privacy wasn't to be found.

By the time Rose realised that indulging in these fantasies was a bad idea, it was too late. She was already busy imagining his long fingers tracing her naked curves, his lips tasting her pulse points, his hair tickling her skin as he moved down, down, down her body. She felt her skin start to prickle, her blood heating her throughout, and her core began to ache. She shifted her position, trying to rub her legs together and gain some much needed friction. An unconscious moan escaped her mouth as she fought not to writhe wantonly.

"Rose?" the Doctor questioned and instead of snapping her out of her haze, the deep timbre of his voice shot straight to her groin and she moaned again. "What's wrong? What's the matter?"

She tried not to look at him, not only because she was embarrassed by this arousal that she quite suddenly was unable to control, but because she worried that the sight of his dark eyes, his pouty lower lip, his delicious sideburns… would send her over the edge.

"'M sorry, Doctor," she gasped out, turning away and fisting her fingers into the deep pile of the carpeting. "I can't… I can't help it. 'S too much."

"It's the hormones, right?" he asked her, his voice quiet. She could all but _feel_ his eyes on her as she nodded. "I think they're having a cumulative effect in you, Rose. I recognised the pattern in the synthesised chemicals when I analysed them in my own bloodstream. I've been able to prevent them from building up in my own system, but as a human, Rose, you are completely unable to prevent that from happening. Your system is being overwhelmed."

"Guh," was all she could manage as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Are you okay, Rose?" he asked, sounding very concerned and apologetic, and she would feel bad for wanting no more than to just ram her tongue down his throat if she were able to get her wits about her.

"No, I'm not," she groaned. Arousal pulsed again and this time… blimey, that _hurt_. She gasped and tried to catch her breath. "It hurts, Doctor."

"Oh, Rose," he said. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have– I should have just…" He didn't seem able to finish his thought and she was now quite unable to think of what he might be trying to say.

Rose dropped to the carpet and curled in on herself, then stretched out when the position proved unbearable. She felt like she was jumping out of her own skin and there was no relief. She moaned again and whimpered. She turned her head and caught sight of the Doctor watching her on the other side of the transparent wall. His face was stricken, his eyes dark as he watched her.

"Help me," she begged.

He placed his hands on the wall, but they both knew he wouldn't be able to get through. "Rose, I would if I could. I was such a fool before. I can't bear to see you…" He choked on the words. "You're going to have to see if you can relieve yourself."

"Wha–?" she gasped as the pain redoubled.

"Rose, listen to me," he said, his voice firm. She directed everything she could towards focusing on what he was saying. "You're going to have to touch yourself."

 **Chapter 6**

Chapter Summary

The Doctor gives Rose what little assistance he is able and the Eltrutians aren't done ramping things up in their little zoo. But is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

HUGE thanks to lunarsilverwolfstar for being a great beta and taking such care with this project. And to the other girls... you know who you are!

Rose was trembling on the carpet in front of the Doctor, but he couldn't get to her. And, right then, he wanted nothing more than to get to her. Rassilon, he would be at the limits of his own resistance even if he weren't dosed with chemicals and even if Rose weren't in pain. Of course he wanted to help her. He also just wanted _her_. He tried to clear his lust-addled mind enough so that he could help her. He expected her to react awkwardly or perhaps with embarrassment when he told her she would need to touch herself, but instead she just moaned and arched her back.

"Please, Rose," he said, trying to bring her back to the topic at hand. "It will help you be able to think again and it'll relieve the pain, I promise. Just, please, touch yourself."

Her hand skated down her abdomen and teased around the waist of the loincloth she wore. She turned her head again and regarded him with heavy-lidded eyes. "Do you like to watch?" she asked him.

The Doctor swallowed. He recognised that there were two different paths he could take here. He could do what he'd always done in the past: Skirt the issue, play it off or make a joke about it, and then try to just urge her to get this done so she wouldn't be in any more discomfort. He might save them both a shred or two of dignity in the process, but he also might hurt what was already being weakened between himself and Rose by this hellish ordeal. Or, he could give in a little to his own desires, make Rose feel more comfortable about hers, see her through this properly so that she got relief, and then worry about repairing their relationship afterwards. Well. When he put it like that…

"I want to watch you, Rose," he told her, honestly, his voice gravely.

Her reaction was instantaneous, and Rose slipped her fingers underneath the waistband of her loincloth. She moaned, an exquisite sound that went straight to his groin, and she shifted with the strain of trying to keep still. The Doctor's mouth went dry watching her, and he felt a supreme sense of frustration that he couldn't see exactly what she was doing with her fingers. Sure, he could imagine, but the visual would be… No, he couldn't go down that path. He had to keep _something_ back.

"How does that feel?" he asked her, wanting her to know that he was still with her, that he was encouraging this.

She inhaled sharply. "Good," she muttered. Her eyes were shut and she was arching her back, her skin glistening now with a fine sheen of sweat, her hips moving against her hand, and her fingers still maddeningly hidden by the fabric of the loincloth.

"Oh, Rose," he groaned. "I wish I was the one touching you right now." He bit his lip. He hadn't meant to say that, but he couldn't seem to keep the words in, now that he was speaking them.

"I– wish that– too," she gasped brokenly.

"Just listen to my voice, Rose," he instructed her, trying so hard now to keep a grip on the situation. "I'll talk you through this."

She grunted in answer and he could see her hand speeding up underneath the loincloth, her hips pumping. He licked his lips.

"Imagine those are my fingers and I'm sliding them through your wetness… You're very wet, aren't you, Rose? So turned on and I love it. I love how you look like this," he told her, part of him very relieved to finally be able to say these things to her. Yes, he was helping her, but it was also turning him on more than a little. He could feel himself getting hard as he watched her pleasure herself.

His words seemed to be having the desired effect as her hand worked quicker and her breaths came faster. Finally, he had to turn away because watching her like this and not being able to touch her himself was driving him positively spare. The Doctor rested his head back against the barrier between their enclosures and tried to shut out the keening noises that Rose was making. He wondered if she'd remember all of what happened here. Her mind might be too far gone with arousal and once the chemicals in her bloodstream dispersed, she might be foggy on the details. He didn't know if he wanted her to remember the things he's said to her or if he wanted her to forget. He was leaning towards the latter; if she didn't feel for him what he felt for her, it would be rather awkward for their friendship. Though, he supposed he could play it off that he didn't mean any of it. He cringed at the thought.

He didn't like the idea of doing that either.

A moment later, the Doctor heard her cry out sharply and despite his better self, he turned to watch. She was arched and taut, like a bowstring. He could see the muscles of her thighs quivering and her hand had stilled as her cries died off; she collapsed back to the carpet, breathing heavily. What a gorgeous sight. He swallowed thickly and averted his eyes as she came back to herself. He listened as her breathing evened out. He could hear her shifting as she sat back up and leaned back against the barrier behind where he sat. She was quiet.

"Better?" he asked and he winced at how strained his voice sounded.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Rose–" he began, though he didn't even know what he wanted to say. He didn't want her to feel bad about what had just happened.

"Thank you," she murmured. "For… helping."

"You're welcome," he replied. Quiet filled both of their enclosures and this time it definitely felt uncomfortable. What could he say to her that wasn't going to make her feel worse?

The Doctor was still struggling with this when two Eltrutians trooped into Rose's enclosure moments later. He was on his feet in seconds.

"What's going on now?" he demanded to know. Didn't they have any idea of what she'd just been through?

The aliens barely regarded him as they advanced on Rose. She looked confused, still shaken as they grabbed her arms and hauled her to her feet. "We observed the female's response to her last dose of pheromones and found it most intriguing," one of them informed him. As they secured Rose, the other alien reached into the pouch slung over his shoulder and produced another syringe. "We would like to experiment further with that particular dosage."

As soon as Rose saw the syringe, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she began to kick and scream. The Doctor pounded on the barrier, begging, pleading, and threatening for them to stop. The Eltrutians ignored her completely, however, as the needle was plunged once again into Rose's neck. She screamed a high pitched wail and the Doctor felt his biology take over as he pounded on the wall that separated him from her. He heard a roaring noise and realised that it was him. He was making that noise. Oh, _Rose_.

Moments later, several pairs of hands were grabbing his arms and pulling him away from the barrier. The curtains were drawn back into place, blocking off his view of her. The Doctor made a noise of protest as he was pulled further back into the enclosure.

He now looked at the Eltrutians that held him and he glared at them. "You will pay for what you're doing to her. For what you've done to both of us," he threatened.

The aliens didn't look very upset at this promise. "Your reaction is most curious," one of them said, releasing his arm now and standing front of him, eyeing him speculatively. "You refuse to mate with her, but you are protective of her as though you are bonded."

"It's complicated," the Doctor grumbled. "She's… she's my Rose."

The Eltrutian cocked his head to one side and regarded him cooly. "Are you her father, perhaps?"

His mouth fell open. "What?!" he squeaked. "Father! No, I am _not_ her father."

"But you do not sexually desire her," the alien pointed out.

The other Eltrutian let go of his other arm and the Doctor automatically rubbed the back of his neck. "I never said that I don't desire her," he muttered.

"But we've been observing you both. You had more than enough opportunity to claim her as your own, but you would not. In fact, need I remind you, that just earlier today you destroyed that room in a rage rather than accept her advances."

The Doctor cringed, wishing more than ever that he could take back his earlier outburst. "Like I said, it's complicated," he replied. "I tried to tell you before that I wasn't human."

The alien nodded. "Yes, you did. And when we brought you in here and gave you the quick exam, we did notice the differences in your biology. However, we determined that you were still compatible. Is this why you do not mate with her?"

The Doctor made a noncommittal noise and refused to answer. Instead, he asked, "What's going to happen to her now? Can you remove the curtain again so I can at least see her?"

"We will see if you calm some more after you have a meal," the alien said and he gestured towards the wall with the door. It slid open and a third Eltrutian entered the room, bearing a tray of food. "For now, we'll leave you as we have some things to prepare for the female's exhibit."

That didn't sound good. The Doctor watched worriedly as the two Eltrutians left his enclosure and barely spared the newly arrived third a glance as he sat on the hard floor. He desperately needed to think of a way to get them out of here. The more time they spent here, the worse things got and he wasn't at all interested in seeing what came next.

"Pardon me, sir, but I have your meal," the third Eltrutian said. The alien stood next to him, looking more unsure and out of place than any of the others of this species had since they'd arrived on this planet.

"Oh, yes, thank you very much. Please just set it down," the Doctor said, making an effort to sound gracious.

"If I may, sir," the Eltrutian said and the Doctor noticed it this time. The alien was calling him "sir", the first one to have done so this whole time. "I'm sorry for what is being done to you and the female. I believe my superiors are wrong in what they are doing."

"Do you now?" he said thoughtfully, now regarding this alien with new eyes.

"Y-yes. I'm not the only one who thinks so either." The Eltrutian made a show of removing the lid from the ray of food and arranging the tableware precisely.

"Might you be… willing to offer some assistance, should I require it?" the Doctor asked casually, keeping his voice pitched low. He didn't know what the surveillance capabilities were in his enclosure and he didn't want to get this poor alien in trouble. On the other hand, if there was any way to get some help from the outside in getting himself and Rose out of here, he would leap at every chance.

The alien looked around the empty room nervously. Then, he nodded curtly before standing upright and walking back to the door. It slid open and he stepped through. The Doctor was again left alone. He picked over the meal he'd been given, but was mostly lost in thought. He had to figure a way to get back to Rose or at least get the curtains drawn back again. Maybe if he tried just asking nicely…

Once he finished eating, he stood and approached the wall where he knew the invisible door to be. "Hello! I'm feeling much better now. Thank you for the lovely meal. It was just what I needed. I'm wondering, if I asked nicely, could you please draw back the curtains again? It's just that I miss my… my Rose and I would like to be able to see her and talk to her again. Please? I promise to be on my best behaviour this time."

There were a few quiet moments where he wondered if they'd heard him at all. Then, he heard a mechanical whirring noise as the curtains on both sides of the barrier were drawn back and there was a crackling sound as the communication between the rooms was finally restored. The Doctor breathed a large sigh of relief, hurrying over to the wall to see what Rose was doing and if she was okay.

He stopped in his tracks and the smile fell off his face as he took in the sight before him. Rose wasn't alone in her enclosure any longer. She was sitting, huddled in the far corner, near the edge of the not-a-window that separated their enclosures. There was also a young man, similarly dressed in a loincloth just like he himself was, standing awkwardly on the opposite side of the room. He looked to be maybe a handful of years older than Rose, if that. He also looked to be human, but the Doctor knew that it was often foolish to make assumptions based on appearance alone. Still, considering that the Eltrutians seemed to be keen on a human mating, and having finally determined that he himself was not human, it made sense that they would locate a young human male to introduce into the enclosure.

Rose was very purposefully not looking at this man and her arms were wrapped tightly around her chest, but the Doctor saw him sneaking peeks at her. This bloke was attractive and well muscled; he made the Doctor feel inadequate just looking at him. He felt his blood boil a bit.

Both of them looked up as the curtain fully retracted. A smile bloomed across Rose's features when she saw him again while the young man looked startled, and perhaps a little worried. Good. He _should_ be worried.

"What in the name of Gallifrey is going on?" the Doctor growled.

 **Chapter 7**

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, we meet Rose's new roommate and the Doctor and Rose have a conversation they probably should have had ages ago.

lunarsilverstarwolf is the most patient beta on the planet. And you all are DARLINGS for encouraging this. Thank you!

After the Eltrutians had injected her again, things went a little hazy for a while. Her adrenaline had shot through the roof at the sudden assault and hearing the Doctor shouting for her, Rose had quickly found herself overwhelmed with sensory input. When she was finally thinking clearly again, the Eltrutians were gone, the curtain was closed, and she was alone in her enclosure, huddled in the corner.

Shortly after that, the door opened and Shawn was pushed inside, complete with a loincloth. That was his name, Shawn. He was from this century, and from Earth to boot, California to be specific. He had been on a scouting mission and his craft had broken down just outside of Eltrut III's orbit. After taking a shuttle to the surface to look for help or supplies to fix his ship with, he'd been grabbed and drugged, just like the Doctor and herself had.

He'd looked disoriented, confused, and quite surprised to see her. Rose had been quick to reassure him that she meant no harm. Once she'd spoken to him and found out that he was a human like her, she'd filled him in on what they knew about their captors. She'd also broken the news to him about the Eltrutians expected them to do. Together.

Shawn had taken the news in stride. While he'd taken a moment to familiarize himself with the confines of their enclosure, Rose had made a surreptitious assessment of him. He was tall, but not quite as tall as the Doctor. He was definitely more filled out; the lines of his muscles were defined and most definitely obvious with him standing there in nothing but a loincloth. He had light hair with an almost reddish cast to it (oh, the Doctor was going to _hate_ that) and sharp green eyes. He wasn't bad to look at, Rose had to admit. If she wasn't already head over heels in love with the Doctor, Shawn might have turned her head. As it stood, Rose was very worried that she would have to shag this bloke.

Maybe it was a little silly to want to save herself for the Doctor since she was still relatively sure that he didn't want to have sex with her. He'd given her some mixed messages over the last couple of days, to say the least, but their relationship was by no means secure or even easily defined. Shoot, maybe he would _want_ her to shag this guy.

That thought made her heart hurt.

The good news was that Shawn didn't seem to be terribly affected by the initial set of injections and Rose found herself caught up in her morose thoughts about her relationship with the Doctor. She settled in the corner she'd been huddled in before and worried that if she did end up having to shag Shawn, would the Doctor take her back home? She couldn't bear that. Visions of his disappointed face plagued her until she noticed the curtain beginning to draw back. Moments later, she saw the Doctor and she grinned despite her worries. He looked so good to her, she was just happy to see that he was okay.

As she stood up and approached him on the other side of the barrier, she saw his face fall and knew that he'd spotted Shawn standing on the other side of the room. "What in the name of Gallifrey is going on?" he demanded roughly.

"Doctor, this is Shawn," she said calmly, indicating the young man behind her who was looking rather uncertain himself. "He came here just like us; they took him right out of the street. Shawn, this is my friend, the Doctor."

Shawn stepped up to the barrier and looked curiously at the Doctor. "How come he's not in here with you?" he asked.

Rose swallowed nervously. "He was, but he was removed."

"It's a bit of a long story," the Doctor said and he was still holding himself stiffly. It was a very awkward moment, especially considering that they all probably had a good idea of what was going on here. Rose felt tears spring to her eyes as the stress of the situation got to her.

"Rose, what's wrong?" the Doctor asked softly. Shawn looked sheepish and stepped back to give them a little privacy. She slid down the wall so she could sit on the floor and the Doctor did the same.

"This isn't what I want," she whispered. She didn't just mean their confinement, and she suspected the Doctor understood that based on the way he ducked his head and nodded.

"It's not what I want either. I was such a fool earlier, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did…" He trailed off and she saw a muscle in his jaw leap.

"I don't want him," Rose admitted in a low voice, hoping that Shawn couldn't hear her. It wasn't his fault, after all. "I want– The thing is Doctor… It's you. I want _you_. I _love_ you." She gasped with the effort of her admission, but now, it was out in the open. As much as she feared his reaction, she had to know, so she lifted her eyes to meet his.

The Doctor stared at her with his eyes wide open. He looked utterly gobsmacked. "You love… me?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course. You had to have known."

"Is this the hormones speaking?" he asked, sounding so much more nervous than she was used to. He was usually so confident and sure of himself. "Please, Rose, tell me?"

She placed a hand on the barrier, a hand that would have touched his face had she been able. "Don't be daft," she said, her words softened by her fondness for him. "I've wanted you since long before we came here. I've loved you… for just as long. If not longer."

He didn't move, but just continued to stare at her and his eyes were bottomless. After a long moment, he asked, "How long?"

She shrugged a little. "Before you regenerated, at least."

"Oh, Rose."

"And I know you… it's not like that for you and that's okay. I'm okay with that, Doctor. But I wanted you to know that whatever happens here… It's _you_ that I want. And I don't want you to take me back home after this is all over. Please, just don't take me home," she begged, past being concerned that she looked clingy and desperate.

"Rose, listen to me," the Doctor said firmly. She choked back a sob, watching him as he tugged on his ear and pushed his hand through the hair at the top of his head. "I think you have the wrong idea about me and about how I… I think, well no, I _know_ that I've let you think something else entirely. That's all my fault. I've been an idiot and I've been so scared and so concerned with protecting myself and my hearts and I've let you down."

Rose blinked at him, surprised. This outpouring was completely unlike him. Well, the babbling was definitely him. But he seemed to be saying he was sorry for something? She was having a hard time following. "Doctor, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want you, too. I told you that before and I meant it then. I wanted you before all this as well, and before I regenerated," he revealed and his voice was shaking. "I knew you wanted me, I noticed… things. Your scent, the way you'd look at me when you didn't think I'd notice. But I thought that was just … You're human and humans are very sexual beings and I figured, being a young woman, you would… have needs. And that's okay, I expect you to; I've had young female companions in the past and they've had needs so it's something I'm well aware of." He paused to take a breath and she continued to gape at him. He looked stricken and plunged ahead, now seemingly unable to stop himself.

"But the problem was that I wanted you too. That hasn't ever happened before with a companion. And it's different with me, because I don't just desire anyone. There's certain…. I have feelings. Feelings that are attached to my… erm. Well, at least as it concerns you and… you didn't, or rather, you don't… I couldn't take advantage of your needs, Rose, because I had feelings for you and I didn't want you to feel obligated to put up with me and my… feelings…." He quieted and looked at her, his eyes now soft. "You love me?"

She nodded and a tear slipped down her cheek. She brushed at it and smiled a little shyly. "Yes, you plum," she murmured.

"But how… I'm a broken man, Rose. I've been a soldier, I've done horrible things, I'm… damaged. How can you love me? How can _you_ love _me_?" he asked, his voice an awed whisper.

"I just do. Love doesn't always listen to reason, Doctor. You think it's easy loving a man like you? It's not and you make it even harder, I think. But I do love you, I do. I wouldn't change it for the world," she told him.

"I don't deserve it," he muttered.

"Maybe not. And it's okay, Doctor, that you don't. You said you have feelings and I know that I'm important to you, but I don't want you to think that I expect anything from you. I just thought you should know how I felt," she told him, feeling a little lame and more than a little exposed. She rubbed her arms and looked down.

There was a moment where he didn't speak. Then… "Rose? Look at me." She lifted her eyes and found his intent on hers. "I've spent many years protecting myself and I've wasted so much of our time together, trying to keep myself from getting hurt. It's a bit ridiculous, as I'm realising now. But I… Rose… I love you."

Another sob escaped her throat as she turned fully to the barrier that separated them. She planted both hands on the surface and rested her cheek against it. "Doctor, do you mean it?" she asked softly.

"I do," he replied just as softly and she could see him mirroring her position, his hands placed over hers, his cheek resting where hers did.

"I wish I could touch you now," she admitted.

"Me too," he answered and she felt the rumble of his voice clear down to her core.

This was brutally unfair. Rose had finally been able to tell the Doctor how she felt about him and, miraculously, he returned those feelings. That alone was like a dream come true, but to be separated like this, trapped in this horrible situation… she ached from the separation when all she wanted to do was hold him in her arms.

The sound of a throat clearing behind her brought Rose back to reality. She turned a little to see Shawn standing a few paces away, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Sorry to interrupt," he said, flushing. "But I think there's been a mistake."

The Doctor's eyes were dark as he surveyed Shawn. "You better believe there has been."

Shawn put his hands up while Rose and the Doctor both got back to their feet. "This isn't my fault. I didn't ask to be nabbed, drugged, stripped, and tossed in here."

The Doctor exhaled roughly and Rose gave the other man a tremulous smile. "I know that, Shawn. But try telling _them_ that," she said, gesturing in the direction of the invisible door.

Shawn nodded curtly and crossed the room to the door, slamming his palms against it. "Hey! Let me out of here! I'm not going to do this. It's bad enough without the two of them being all sappy over each other. I'm not touching her and I don't care what you threaten me with!" he shouted.

Rose glanced at the Doctor, seeing him raise his eyebrows and mouth the word, "Wow." She smiled at him and then at Shawn, who gave her a little salute as the door opened, an Eltrutian entering to lead him back out again.

"See? He's not a bad guy," Rose told the Doctor.

His expression shifted and she turned back to see an Eltrutian crossing the room. "We will try again with the human male tomorrow," he told them. "We will up the dosage on his injections like we have with the female and are confident that doing this will provide us with the results we seek."

Rose could't help but envision Shawn, but not as the sweet man she'd met. No, this Shawn was overcome with lust and completely out of control. She felt the blood drain from her face. "No!" she cried out. "Please, you can't!"

The Eltrutian looked surprised. "But of course we can. We are determined to have a successful mating in captivity and since your friend displayed no interest, we are only following the suggestion you had when you first arrived here."

She blinked confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

The alien clicked a button on his remote; the room was filled with a playback of the conversation she and the Doctor had had on their first day in this enclosure, when she had laughed at the notion of them having sex together and that the Eltrutians would be ahead to find a human male for her to shag instead. Rose swallowed the bitter regret that was suddenly crowding her throat. She turned to look at the Doctor who had an unspeakable expression on his face. He looked utterly wrecked.

"I'm so sorry," she told him. "I never should have said that."

He shook his head. "No, Rose, don't feel bad. You couldn't know." He paused and lowered his voice. "Don't give up hope, okay?"

"I won't," she murmured, but she wasn't sure she felt any hope. Their situation seemed desperate.

"We will return with the human male in the morning," the Eltrutian said, drawing their attention back to the issue at hand. "The chemicals will have had a chance to build again in the female's system by then and we are confident that a mating will occur."

The alien left and the door disappeared once again.

"Oh, Doctor," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. "How will we ever get out of this one?"

 **Chapter 8**

Chapter Summary

The Doctor is working against the clock, trying to plan his and Rose's escape but what will happen when time runs out?

Silver, you are a STAR. Thank you for being a fantastic beta. And thanks to everyone who has encouraged and inspired this story. It's about the trope-iest thing I've ever written but it's been fun!

The Doctor felt raw in the wake of the scene with Shawn and the Eltrutian. In addition to finally having laid his soul bare to Rose, it was so much to take in that he took a moment while Rose composed herself to sort it all out.

He'd suspected that there were times Rose might have fancied him, mostly after his regeneration. He had honestly thought it was simply down to a normal human sex drive and had never even imagined that she might have deeper feelings for him.

She loved him. She'd said that she loved him. Even now, just thinking of it, his hearts sped up and joy filled him. Joy that was quickly tempered by the situation they found themselves in. True, they'd been given a bit of a reprieve as far as Shawn was concerned. But overnight wasn't quite enough time to work with his meal-delivering ally and persuade him to help them escape. His mind was so occupied with racing through scenarios and possibilities, that he almost missed the shaking of Rose's shoulders.

"Rose?" he asked. Once again, he was frustrated at his inability to reach out and touch her.

She gasped in a breath of air and turned back to face him. Tears streaked down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I'm useless. With all these pheromones and the chemicals and the stress… It's just a bit much, yeah?"

"Don't apologise, Rose. You've handled all of this brilliantly so far," he assured her. "Why don't we sit like we were before and we can talk, okay?"

She nodded. "Sure. I don't feel much like sleeping tonight anyhow."

They each assumed the same positions they had taken before on either side of the not-a-window. Neither of them even saw the wall behind which the tourists collected anymore. The only time the Doctor seemed to notice that wall at all was in the evenings when the zoo would close and the wall would re-solidify. He looked to it now, watching as the last of the tourists trundled by on their out of the zoo. He was suddenly extremely envious of their ability to leave this abysmal place.

"It'll be okay," he promised her.

"How can you say that?" she asked. "How can you know that?"

"I just do. I'd do anything for you, Rose Tyler," he said earnestly. "I'll get us out of here, I promise."

"I want so badly to believe that," she murmured. She sounded so unsure, her voice so small. The Doctor felt a surge of protectiveness sweep through him.

"The alien that delivered my meal earlier, Rose, he seemed like he might be willing to help us get out of here," he revealed, keeping his voice low and hoping that with the zoo closing up, no one was listening too closely to their conversation.

Rose's eyes widened. "Seriously? That's fantastic!"

"In fact, he should be here in about…" The Doctor trailed off and searched his time sense. "A minute's time to deliver our meals. I think he will stop in my enclosure first; I need to speak to him. I hate to ask this, Rose, but do you think you could maybe do something distracting so that they aren't watching my enclosure too closely?"

She grinned and he delighted when he saw her tongue touch the corner of her grin. "You bet I can." Having a purpose did wonders for her demeanor and he felt a swelling of affection for her.

Right on schedule, the Doctor's invisible door slid open and the Eltrutian he'd spoke to earlier stepped in with a tray of food. He nodded at Rose, who leapt up and began to make all kinds of wild demands towards the door to her enclosure. He caught a bit of what she was saying and deduced that she was requesting certain comforts if she was to be entertaining Shawn in the morning. He had to chuckle at her request for pillows and a duvet, and would it kill them to bring in a cushioned mat or something?

Satisfied that any Eltrutians that were watching were distracted by Rose, he approached the alien in his enclosure and stuck out his hand, smiling genially.

"Hello! I don't think I got to introduce myself earlier," he said as the Eltrutian tentatively stuck out his clawed hand. The Doctor was nonplussed, however, and shook the proffered appendage. "My name is the Doctor. And you are?"

"My name Eulav," he said.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor lowered his voice and stepped closer so his new friend could hear him better. "Earlier, you made it sound as though you might be willing to help me and my friend, Rose, escape from here. Is that still true?"

Eulav nodded. "There is a small group of us, some that work here at the zoo, some that are outside, who are opposed to the practices at the zoo. We would be happy to help you achieve freedom."

"Eulav, I want to kiss you. _Thank_ you," the Doctor gushed. Quickly and quietly, the two formed a plan. It was too late that night to do anything, as the Doctor had suspected, but Eulav promised him that he could coordinate with his fellow infiltrators and they would be able to put their plan into action the following evening.

There was a skeleton crew at the zoo overnight that they had to worry about; even Eulav usually went home after delivering the evening meals. All that remained usually were a few security guards, but Eulav seemed to know their routine well.

His new friend left the enclosure moments later; the Doctor took his tray of food over to the barrier and sat down. He watched as Eulav entered Rose's enclosure and handed her a tray. She stopped her ranting and granted the Eltrutian a beaming smile, thanking him. She brought her tray over and sat down as well. She began to pick through the offerings which were the same as the last meal and the one before it as well. Not big on variety, these Eltrutians.

Trying to muffle his voice with the sound of their eating, he told her the plan that he and Eulav had hatched. She nodded, but didn't say anything, though he could see in her eyes that she was relieved to have a plan at last for getting them out of here.

Once they finished their meals, they set aside their trays and began to talk. It was a conversation not unlike the many others they'd had on countless nights aboard the TARDIS, over pints of ice cream and while watching Disney movies in the media room. The Doctor felt immense relief. The more he and Rose chatted, the more he realised that nothing necessarily had to change between them. Admitting their feelings to one another hadn't changed anything about how they got along and he was very glad of it. The last thing he wanted was to lose was his friendship with Rose. That friendship meant more than just about anything to him.

"What happens in the morning, Doctor?" Rose asked him a while later. It was getting very late now and he could tell from the softness of her voice that she was getting sleepy. He could also tell that she was worried.

The Doctor took a deep breath. "We'll play it by ear. How are you feeling right now? With the pheromones?"

"Shaky, a bit," she replied and she lifted a hand, demonstrating for him how it trembled. "Aroused, but with you, that's nothing new." She grinned a little at him.

He smiled back at her, as always, impressed with her strength. "I imagine the chemicals will build up by morning, just like last time," he mused.

Rose shuddered. He knew she was remembering how she'd had to pleasure herself. While he knew it had been humiliating for her and hardly an ideal situation, the memory of watching her touch herself set a fire in his veins. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the vision.

"And they're going to be giving Shawn the higher dosage, if they haven't done so already. What if he… What if I can't stop him? What if I won't… want to?" Her voice shook and she fidgeted with her fingers nervously.

"I won't lie to you, Rose. I won't like it. But I also understand and I know this an awful situation for all us to have to deal with," he told her. "The last thing I want is for you to feel bad about what you cannot control."

"This would be so much simpler if it was you instead," she murmured.

The Doctor smiled ruefully. "Still, hardly ideal," he mused. "See, I have plans, Rose. I've had nebulous plans for almost as long as I've known you, but ever since earlier today, when you told me you loved me… I have plans for how I want it to be with us. And making love to you in front of a curious audience on a hard floor is definitely _not_ in those plans."

She shivered, but he didn't think she was cold. "That so?"

He nodded. "I want to be able to take my time and learn every inch of you. I want you to be able to learn every inch of me. I want it to be just you and me and for you to feel as though you can really relax and enjoy yourself. I need to hear your noises, Rose. I've dreamed of them for so long now, I need to hear you and see if I was right."

Rose stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes were dark and her cheeks were flushed. "Wow."

"What?"

"I think I can feel those pheromones building up now, Doctor," she admitted and she grinned.

"Oops. Sorry?" he offered before he returned her smile.

The Doctor was all set to flirt and tease but, as Rose let out a jaw-cracking yawn, he realised that she needed her rest, especially if they would be attempting an escape tomorrow night. And especially if tomorrow went as badly as he feared it would. He smiled fondly at her. "You need to get some rest."

"But I want to keep talking to you," she protested, her eyes heavy as she leaned against the barrier.

"I'll be right here, not going anywhere," he promised. After a few moments of gentle arguing, he persuaded her to lie down; she was asleep within minutes of him telling her of the history of Noomxof, and the generous and empathic creatures that lived there. As he watched her steady breathing, the constant rise and fall of her chest, he promised himself that he would take her there, after this was all behind them. He leaned more heavily against the barrier and watched her, trying not to think about what might happen when morning came.

***

Dawn broke long before either of them was ready for it. First, an Eltrutian came into Rose's enclosure to give her another injection. She tried to beg off, claiming that she was already feeling the effects quite sufficiently, but the protests fell on deaf ears. Then, Eulav brought them both a morning meal and exchanged a meaningful look (or at least what he thought passed for a meaningful look with Eltrutians) with him. The Doctor took that to mean that "all systems were go" for their escape attempt that night. Rose was quiet while she ate and he could tell she was nervous. He was rather unsettled himself.

He covered for both of them as well as he could with meaningless babble and from the strained smiles she kept sending his direction, he knew she appreciated his efforts.

Then, Shawn was brought back into the enclosure. The Doctor tried to project as much calm to Rose as he could, but inside he was seething as he surveyed the other man. He looked nothing if not affected by the injections this time and the Doctor didn't miss the way his gaze kept fixing on Rose. Rose, for her part, remained over by the barrier next to him, but he could see the obvious signs of her building arousal. If he could see it, chances were that Shawn could too. Indeed, the other man's eyes dilated and he began to walk towards Rose as if pulled forward on an invisible string. Rose stood proudly, but he could see the way her fists were clenched by her side.

The Doctor wanted to turn away, to deny what was unfolding before his eyes. Yet he remained riveted, focused on what was going on in the adjacent enclosure. He watched, horrified, as Shawn stepped up to Rose and reached out to grab her waist, pulling her to him. Her body went willingly enough, but she turned her head and met the Doctor's eyes. Her expression was pleading. As Shawn began to kiss her neck, his lips moving restlessly over her flesh, he could see Rose trying to fight her arousal as she bit down on her lower lip and fought to keep her eyes open.

When Shawn's lips found a spot under her ear, the Doctor saw Rose's body arch and move seductively against the other man's. She whimpered, though it didn't sound aroused and wanting. It sounded desperate and distraught. He fought to keep his expression nothing but supportive as his fingernails dug furrows into his palms while he clenched his fists.

"Doctor," she gasped. "Please."

"I'm here, Rose," he told her. "I'm not going anywhere." He kept his eyes on her face as Shawn's broad hands traced her curves.

"You. I want _you_. Please," she begged. Tears shone in her eyes, even as her body moved against Shawn's, her hands stroking over his shoulders and arms. Shawn, if he heard what she said, pretended not to as he trailed his lips down to the top of her breasts.

The Doctor fought against the possessive urge that surged through him, that made him want to yell at this other man to get away from her. "Rose, I want you too. So much. Please, remember how I feel," he said.

"Can you… _nghh_ …. Can you come in here? Will they let you in? I want _you_ ," she repeated, pleading now. Every outward physical sign indicated her willingness and eagerness for what Shawn was doing, but her eyes begged for him.

His mind raced. He glanced around his enclosure and then strode over to the invisible door. "Please, if you're listening!" he shouted. "She wants me to be in there!"

As if on cue, Rose cried out, "Doctor!" It was such an aroused, pleading sound that he found his body responding with just that little stimulation. He wanted desperately to hear her call his name while he brought her pleasure. Suddenly, the objections they both had to this current situation seemed inconsequential.

"I will mate with her," he vowed to whomever might be listening. "I promise that. I made a mistake before. I know I'm not human, but… I'm more. I promise you, a mating between myself and a human would be far more valuable to your research and interesting to your customers than a mating between two humans. I'm a Time Lord. Look it up and I think you'll agree with me."

There was a hearts' stopping silence for a few moments. He could hear Shawn and Rose's moans through the sound system. He could no longer bear to look in their direction. Instead, he focused all his hope and all his attention on getting the Eltrutians to listen to him.

Then, there was the raspy voice of one of the aliens on the sound system. "Why didn't you tell us you were Gallifreyan before?"

"You didn't ask," he ground out, his patience wearing thin. "Please, you have my word. Take Shawn out and put me in with Rose. I _will_ mate with her."

 **Chapter 9**

Chapter Summary

Finally, we all get what we've been waiting for. This chapter has smut, y'all. If that's not your thing, feel free to skip over.

lunarsilverwolfstar has been my beta and she's been fantastic. Another big thanks to Value Turtle for her endless inspiration on this story and Lain21 who encouraged me when I was ready to give in on the whole thing.

Need pulsed throughout her body and Rose wanted more than anything to ride it out to its inevitable conclusion. She'd never been this aroused in all her life, even including the hormone explosion she'd experienced the other night. Shawn was making all the right moves, touching her in all the right places, but she still had enough grasp on her mind that she knew this wasn't what she wanted the most and that was maddening. She wanted _the Doctor_ in here with her, she wanted _his_ lips on her neck and breasts, and _his_ hands grabbing at her bum and digging into her hips.

The Doctor stepped away from the barrier that separated their enclosures and she felt a pang of loss as he left her line of sight. If she couldn't feel him, she at least wanted to be able to see him. She called for him, aware that her voice sounded wanton and needy, but she couldn't begin to care. Shawn paused for a moment, and his expression looked mildly hurt, but he continued to rock his hips against hers, seemingly unable to stop himself. Nor could she stop her body from responding to his the way that it was. Disappointment crawled through her as she realised that this was going to happen and it wasn't at all the way she really wanted it.

Shawn had just lowered her to the carpeted floor and was positioning himself over her when she heard the unmistakable sound of the invisible door sliding open. She sat up suddenly, pushing Shawn aside. They both gaped as the Doctor stepped into the enclosure. His eyes were dark and hooded, his chest rising and falling evenly. His tall, lithe frame radiated purpose.

"What's this?" Shawn demanded to know. A small group of Eltrutians entered behind the Doctor and they crossed the room swiftly to Shawn's side.

"This male has revealed he is a Time Lord and he promises to mate with the female," the lead Eltrutian said. "We are intrigued by the possibilities this presents. We will sedate you now and remove you back to your enclosure."

If she'd been less distracted by her own arousal and the arrival of the man she truly wanted, Rose might have protested against them sedating poor Shawn, who was no more at fault for this situation than they were. Any objections she had melted away once she saw the Doctor standing next to her, extending a hand to help her up. After that moment, she paid no more mind to the other man that was being pulled away and injected.

The Doctor was _here_ , in her enclosure again, for the first time since she'd thrown herself at him and he'd rejected her. This was also the first time since they'd been honest about their feelings for one another. Did he realise what he would have to do with her? Even if they could fake it for the aliens, there was no denying that she herself needed the release, badly.

"Doctor, I _need_ … I mean, I can't… We have to…" she stammered, though she didn't feel nervous. She just felt _alight_ and her body was thrumming with energy.

"I know," he said, his voice pitched low; she was only vaguely aware of Shawn and the Eltrutians leaving the enclosure. "That's why I'm here."

Rose was about to say something else, but then his lips were on hers. The Doctor was kissing _her_. He pressed forward, insistent, as his hands grabbed at her hips and back, pulling her closer to him. She responded immediately, plunging her hands into his thick hair the way she'd dreamed about doing for months now. She felt his tongue brush her lips and she opened for him immediately, welcoming him in. His tongue pushed into her mouth, dancing with hers; she felt lightheaded and weightless. He tasted like nothing else; spice and electricity and _want_. She didn't even realise they were moving until her back came up against the wall next to the transparent wall, behind which were curious groups of alien onlookers, but she was determined not to think about that right now. He had her pressed there, directly next to where the invisible door was located. The Doctor moved forward, lining his whole body up against hers, pushing her into the wall and she could feel the hard evidence of his desire as it pressed into her belly.

Rose gasped into his mouth and, as her mouth fell open, he began to kiss his way across her jaw and down the column of her neck. "I've wanted to do this for so long, Rose," he murmured in between hot, openmouthed kisses. "I know this isn't ideal, this isn't how we both want it to be, but I don't even care right now. Are you okay? With this?"

"Yes," she moaned, one hand clutching his hair while the other stroked his bare shoulder and arm restlessly. "I just want _you_ , Doctor. I don't care about anything else."

"I think where we are, right here… I don't think the aliens can see. Or they can't see as well," he said, continuing to brush kisses along her heated skin, down over her shoulder and across her collarbone. "I've worked out the angles in my head and this particular surface they're using has a fairly small range of opacity."

"Doctor," she moaned, "shut up. I don't care about that."

"But the refraction–"

"Guh! Just fuck me!" she cried out, her need bubbling over.

The Doctor went very still for a moment and she instantly worried that she'd gone too far, been too demanding. Then, his mouth was on one of her breasts while his hand palmed the other with firm, purposeful strokes. He engulfed as much of her flesh in his mouth as he could. His tongue laved rhythmically before teasing along her nipple, encouraging it to harden and peak. Rose couldn't have held back her cries if she'd wanted to and her hips moved against his unconsciously. Sweet mercy, he was good at this. She hadn't even known her breasts were this sensitive.

Just when she was growing accustomed to his attentions to her breasts, he disappeared, leaving her skin cold and missing his touch. She looked down to see him kneeling before her, nudging her knee as though he wanted her to raise it up. She obeyed and he grasped her leg, pulling it over his shoulder as he moved closer to her. He plucked at the ties on her hips that held the loincloth in place and the fabric fluttered to the carpet, forgotten. Oh. Rose realised fairly quickly then what he intended to do and she was all for it.

Her fingers dove back into his hair as he pressed kisses along the inside of her thigh, teasing her, his fringe tickling her sensitive skin as he grew closer and closer to where she needed him most. She was making a keening, needy noise that she couldn't prevent, something that sounded an awful lot like, "Please."

Lucky for her, the Doctor didn't keep her waiting very long. The first touch of his tongue as he dragged it through her folds had her back arching against the wall and her hips pushing towards his face. He held her back with one hand, his long fingers pressing into the flesh on her hip. She tried to look down, to see him, but the first sight of his head between her legs had heat flashing through her and she had to close her eyes. With her eyes closed, however, she was better able to concentrate on what his tongue was doing. It was swirling around her opening, then up along her slit, circling her clit but never touching it directly. Back and forth he kept going, stoking her desire, but never giving her enough to push her over. Rose dug her fingers into his scalp. She was just about to cry out and demand that he give her more, when she felt the tip of his tongue finally flick against her clit.

Rose cried out, her voice harsh, her hips straining against his hand, and then his whole mouth came into play. His lips moved over her folds as he kissed her in the most intimate way possible. His teeth nipped and his tongue flicked and swirled and thrust into her. Moments later, Rose was a quivering mass, sobbing out her pleasure as she arched against the wall. It was then that he slid two fingers into her wet heat, curling and pressing against that spot that she hadn't known until this very moment would send her over the edge. Her inner muscles clenched around his fingers and his tongue lapped, drinking up her release as he hummed with pleasure, drawing her gently down from her climax.

Rose had only a moment to think, "Blimey, that was amazing," before he was on his feet in front her and tearing his own loincloth off much the way he'd torn hers off before. His eyes were dark and his skin flushed. He wiped his mouth and chin on the back of his hand before licking his fingers in such a way that had her knees weakening again. Before she could slide to the floor, however, he grabbed for her hips and pushed her up against the wall again. The Doctor reached around and grasped her bum firmly, making her gasp into his neck. He lifted her up and moved between her legs, pinning her against the wall.

"Wrap your legs around me," he instructed roughly.

Captivated by his commanding tone, she obeyed while clutching at his shoulders. "Don't drop me," she said.

"Don't worry," he soothed, "I've got you."

She let go with one of her hands and reached behind her to brace that hand against the wall as he reached down to position himself at her entrance. Rose had a moment to regret not getting a good look at him before he was pushing inside of her. He groaned, long and low, and his head fell forward. His whole body shuddered; he nipped at her shoulder with his teeth as she clutched at both his back and the wall behind her. She couldn't move much in this position; she was entirely at his mercy. She wanted badly to move on him, to feel him better within her. From what she could tell, he filled her perfectly and completely.

"Please, Doctor," she moaned, wiggling her hips as much as she dared. She could feel the fingers of his one hand flex on her bum as he gripped her tighter. He pulled back a bit and pushed back in, hard.

"You're _so_ … Rose, oh–," he gasped. "I can't… stop. Rose, I can't stop."

"Shh," she murmured. "It's okay. Don't stop." Rose focused on clenching her inner muscles around him and he groaned again.

The Doctor set up a pounding pace, his hips pumping against hers and she couldn't have begun to stifle the noises issuing from her throat if she tried. He was breathing hard, nearly grunting in her ear, and the whole thing was utterly fantastic. Rose felt as though her very skin was singing with joy that this was actually happening.

"Rose," he gasped out a moment later, his voice rough, "can you come like this? I want you to come. Do you need–?"

Her head swam. Was he _actually_ asking her this? Part of her was incredulous, because despite having brought her off with his mouth so effectively just minutes ago, she could already feel the tension coiling within her again, heralding another release. It was more than that; she was stunned that he was even asking at all. Neither Jimmy nor Mickey had ever bothered to ask. Jimmy flat out hadn't cared about her pleasure, just as long as he got off. And Mickey had just assumed, bless him, and she'd never had the heart to set him straight–

"Rose?" the Doctor choked out, reminding her of the situation and that he very much needed her answer. And soon.

"'M sorry, Doctor. Yes… Maybe if you touch me?" She gasped aloud as he hit a particularly sensitive spot within her. "But I think I'll come anyhow. 'S just… no one's ever asked that before, I was– _guh_ – surprised."

"Oh, _Rose_ ," he groaned, his hips stuttering and he reached down between their bodies with one hand to feel for her bundle of nerves. "I'll always ask."

He pressed on her clit with his index finger, flicking it in such a way that the coiling in her groin suddenly tightened and then shattered as she came, and came hard. Her screams echoed off the walls of the enclosure and her heels dug into his bum as she clenched around his cock. He answered her cries as he pushed into her three more times before emptying into her, his voice hoarse with relief. She went boneless as the tension finally left her body, leaving her limp and sated.

The Doctor still held Rose in his arms as she moved her feet back to the floor. Just as her toes touched the carpet, he collapsed to the ground, his legs probably just as wobbly as hers were. Suddenly without any support, she half fell on top of him, her breast smashing into his face. There was an awkward scramble as she tried to move off him, but his arm snaked out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her to his side. He was breathing heavily in her ear and she couldn't recall ever having heard him breathe that hard before.

"Sorry," he panted. "I didn't mean to drop like that. Obviously."

"You, sir, have nothing to apologise for," she told him fondly, tapping her finger on his lips. He quickly kissed her digit before she could pull it away.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked.

"Loads," she confessed. "Like night and day. You?"

"Oh, I don't think I'll ever stop wanting you, Rose Tyler," he told her, his eyes glinting playfully. "Now that I've had a taste, I may become insatiable."

Rose arched an eyebrow at him. Then she grinned, broadly and happily. "I think I can deal with that."

The Doctor sat up a bit, pulling her up next to him. "Can you? Because I'm not through with you. I meant what I said before about having plans for you. And I still plan to see them out when we finally get out of here."

"I'll hold you to that, Doctor," she told him. He handed her the loincloth he'd torn from her hips before and while she put it back on, he worked on getting his own loincloth situated. Lucky for her, it was only when their dignities were intact once more that she remembered the audience on the other side of the glass window.

She glanced sheepishly towards the alien tourists and was surprised to see a great deal of unhappy faces. It was then that she remembered what the Doctor had been saying about angles, refraction, and opacity. Apparently, they hadn't given quite the show she'd thought they had. Rose caught the Doctor's eyes and he grinned at her, clearly pleased with himself.

"The Eltrutians aren't going to be very happy with you," she chided him, leaning forward to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

He shrugged, clearly not caring. "I only promised that I would shag you, not that I would give anyone a show," he explained. "And I wanted you. All. For. Myself."

A pleasant heat curled in her belly at his words. "Just get us out of here and back to the TARDIS and you can have me all to yourself as much as you want."

The Doctor looked pleased with the challenge.

 **Chapter 10**

Chapter Summary

The time has come for them to make their escape attempt. It's only the first step towards true freedom and the Doctor's stress levels are high in the aftermath of his encounter with Rose.

lunarsilverwolfstar has been such a fantastic beta, you don't even know.

The invisible door slid open and the Doctor felt the invisible band that had been wrapped around his chest, constricting it, loosen. His hand tightened around Rose's and they darted forward to where Eulav waited for them on the other side of the door. Now that the zoo was closed for the night, the corridor was darkened, but there was still enough light for them to see their Eltrutian friend. The door closed behind them after they were through it and Eulav gestured for them to follow him down the corridor.

"Can you tell us now what the plan is?" the Doctor asked as they hurried along. Rose trotted next to him to keep up.

"A few of my friends are causing a minor disturbance on the other side of the zoo," Eulav informed them. "They do not work at the zoo, but they hid inside while the facility was closing and have broken into the monkey enclosure. The guards are busy dealing with them, for the time being."

"They have monkeys here too?" Rose asked breathlessly as they approached a set of heavy looking doors.

The Doctor chuckled. "I told you, Rose; this is the largest zoo in the universe. Their collection is extensive. Of course they have monkeys!"

They stopped in front of the doors and Eulav just stared at them for a moment before a resounding click was heard; he pushed the door open, ushering them through. On the other side was another long, dim corridor.

"How are you getting past these doors?" the Doctor wanted to know.

"One of my friends who does work here is very familiar with the door computer systems. He programmed the system to release the locks at certain intervals. It means we only have a brief window in which we can get through without setting off the alarms," Eulav explained.

The Doctor nodded to himself and again thanked his lucky stars that Eulav had been willing to help them. Rassilon knew how long they'd be stuck in those enclosures if they hadn't had the help. Normally, he could be a patient and resourceful fellow, but the changes to his relationship with Rose in the last couple of days had shifted his priorities dramatically.

He found he couldn't feel the least bit sorry about the turn their relationship had taken. Logically, he knew all the same objections and concerns still existed, but the experience of loving Rose now trumped all of those things. He wouldn't sacrifice a single moment from here on out. He knew he would mourn her one day, but, for now, he would love. _Oh_ , would he love.

After they had shagged against that wall, utterly heedless of the lack of privacy and extreme circumstances, they had cuddled together on the carpeting. Rose had fallen asleep in his arms then, finally free of the effects of the injections she'd been given. The Eltrutians had left them alone, satisfied for the time being. Still, his experience in the zoo had told them that silence from their captors probably meant they were devising their next round of experiments and that letting one's guard down was inadvisable. Escaping tonight was imperative. Now that he had Rose completely, the Doctor was utterly unwilling to leave her exposed to further humiliation, experimentation, and potential harm.

Plus, he'd begun to worry a bit about the Eltrutians' motives. Their single minded focus on getting Rose mated concerned him, now that the deed had been done. Surely, their only goal wasn't just getting them to shag each other in captivity. It made him think of Giant Pandas back on Earth in the twenty-first century. An endangered species, Giant Pandas were often bred in zoos with the hopes that they would produce offspring. Baby pandas still were cause for celebration and much coverage in the news. Now, he could be considered endangered, of course, but Rose wasn't. Humans were plentiful. But then he reminded himself that humans were still an oddity to the Eltrutians at this point in their history.

The Doctor considered how quickly their captors had acted when he'd revealed he was a Time Lord. He wondered if something had been done to Rose's hormones and fertility. It was difficult to tell simply by taste alone; there were already so many hormones coursing through her body. He would need the more sophisticated lab equipment in the TARDIS to be able to tell for sure and he didn't exactly have that on hand at the moment. But he had detected fertility in her flavor. He wasn't sure if he was even compatible to produce offspring with a human, but now that the thought had occurred to him, he couldn't seem to shake it.

He'd had to shake it for the moment, however, because Rose had woken up, the zoo had closed and Eulav had arrived to help them escape. There'd be time to think about all of that later, once both of them were safe on the TARDIS.

The next set of doors opened right on schedule as they approached and the trio hurried through only to be greeted with yet another long corridor.

"How big _is_ this place?" Rose panted as he pulled her along by the hand.

"We're getting closer to the outer doors, Rose Tyler," Eulav told her. "It won't be long now."

"Can I ask you another big favor, Eulav?" she asked, a little breathless. Several days with little activity seemed to be taking their toll on her.

"You may ask," their friend allowed.

"Shawn. He was the other human that had been brought into my enclosure. Do you know who he is?"

Eulav nodded. "I brought him his food as well as yours. He's a very nice man."

"Can you help him get out too?" she asked and the Doctor looked at her, amazed. Here they were, not even out of danger yet, and she was already looking after the only other friend she'd made on this planet. She was amazing. "Maybe he can help? He's got a good heart, I'm sure he'd be happy to give you assistance."

"I can do that, Rose Tyler," Eulav promised.

They continued on mostly in silence until they reached the next set of doors. They didn't open right away and the Doctor felt a crawling panic in his throat the longer they stood there with the doors still locked firmly before them.

"Why aren't they opening?" Rose asked, her voice shaking a bit. The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him in a half hug.

"We may have gotten here a little quicker than my friend anticipated," Eulav said, but even he looked a little concerned as they stood there and the doors did not unlock.

The Doctor began to look around them for other possible escape routes if these doors ended up staying locked. What if someone had discovered the computer program and disabled it? He pushed back the anxiety that threatened to crowd in once again. He needed to keep his head clear so that he could keep Rose safe. That was his first priority.

After another hearts pounding moment, the door finally clicked and all three of them blew out the breaths they'd been holding. The room beyond was not another corridor for once, but instead was a large room lined with cabinets and benches.

"This is where the employees change into their uniforms," Eulav told them. He gestured to a cabinet, drawing out a pair of plain, oversized, and rather drab-looking tunics. "Here, put these on. They should fit your forms."

The Doctor pulled his tunic over his head. The fit was acceptable, if a little tight across the shoulders and it only came down to the tops of his thighs. Combined with the loincloth, it covered his dignity well enough, but he hardly felt secure in it. Rose was shrugging into her tunic as well and the thin fabric clung enticingly to her breasts, the hem falling down to the middle of her thighs, giving her a bit more cover. She looked decidedly relieved and smiled at him.

"I suppose it's asking too much to hope that you've been able to find the clothes we were wearing when we were brought in?" the Doctor said.

"Alas, no," their friend said regretfully. "I asked around and no one has seen the garments you described to me before. I'm sorry."

The Doctor felt a twinge of regret. At least he hadn't been wearing his favourite overcoat, but his sonic screwdriver had been in his jacket pocket and those had been his favourite pair of trainers. Everything was replaceable, of course, but he sure would feel better if he had his psychic paper and sonic screwdriver handy.

A few moments later, a door at the far end of the room unlocked and the three of them hurried through it, on their way again. They were now clearly in an outer hallway. It was lined with windows that let in the moonlight. As the Doctor walked forward with Rose's hand still tucked tightly in his, he realised this was the first time he'd seen the sky in days. The sight, and that knowledge, gave him hope and he hurried forward with renewed vigour.

The next door they got to clicked just as they approached it, but Eulav held up a hand as the Doctor reached for the handle to pull it open. "Wait!" he rasped out, peering through the slim window set into the wall next to the door. "There is a guard on the other side. He either hasn't gone to help deal with the monkey situation, or perhaps the situation has been diffused already and he's returned. Regardless, he doesn't seem to be moving away. If we go through this door, he will see us and raise the alarm."

Rose's face fell as she looked up at the Doctor. "What will we do?" she asked.

His mind raced. Waiting wasn't an option. The doors were on a sequential program, meaning they had only a minute or two before the door would lock again. They had to get through this door before it locked and they had to do so in a way that wouldn't cause that guard to raise the alarm. They were so close to freedom, they just had to get past this one last major hurdle.

"Well, there's really only one thing for it," the Doctor said at last, scratching the back of his neck. "We'll have to take him by surprise and knock him out."

He looked around to Rose and was surprised to see she already had a makeshift club in her hand. From the upturned chair a few paces away, he guessed she had ripped one of the legs off of it. His eyes widened at her boldness and he felt a rush of arousal.

"Let's do this, then," she said with a nod.

Eulav went through the door first. The guard recognised him, luckily enough, so he was able to distract him while the Doctor and Rose slipped through. He watched in fascinated horror as Rose snuck behind the unsuspecting guard and thumped him on the back of the head with the chair leg. The Eltrutian fell over like a sack of potatoes. Rose leaned over him, biting her lip.

"You don't think I hit him too hard, do you?" she asked.

Eulav crouched, examining the prone guard. "No, you just knocked him out. He'll be around shortly. I should take his communicator and his keys. Not just to aid us, but so that he won't be able to report us right away."

"Good thinking," the Doctor praised. Eulav pocketed the guard's things and then they were quickly on their way to the next door. Everyone felt much better about their situation now that they had a set of keys to use if they needed to. Rose even smiled as she gripped his hand in hers, the light of excitement and adventure returning to her expression. He also noticed, however, that there were dark circles under her eyes and her complexion looked a little on the pale side. It could be the moonlight coming in through the windows, but he thought that Rose was probably feeling the strain of the confinement. That, combined with the stress of their escape, was likely taking a toll on her.

Finally, they reached a rather nondescript looking door. "This is the door out to the side of the building. We'll be outside, but still within the zoo's boundaries. We will have to be careful until we reach the outer fence," Eulav told them. The Doctor nodded and smiled at Rose.

"Ready?"

She squeezed his hand. "As I'll ever be."

The door clicked and Eulav opened it. They stepped out into the moonlight and the Doctor inhaled a lungful of fresh air for the first time in days. There was a large stretch of grass and other plants; he suspected it was supposed to look like a garden. He couldn't see a great deal of cover but, since their absence hadn't been alerted to yet, he figured they should be okay if they ran flat out for the fence surrounding the zoo.

On the count of three, they began to run. Eulav breathlessly told them to run ahead; his legs were short and he would have a hard time keeping up, but he was better at camouflaging himself if they were discovered. He told them there would be an abandoned building on the other side of the fence and for them to wait for him to join them there. The Doctor didn't need any more encouragement to sprint with Rose at his side. The steady sound of her breathing and the crunch of vegetation under their feet accompanied him as they ran for the fence. He saw the tall, wooden structure loom in the distance and almost felt afraid to hope that they would make it. In fact, as they reached the fence and were examining it for the best way to climb over, a high-pitched wail sounded across the grounds. Floodlights flashed on all around them.

"They're onto us!" the Doctor cried. "Quick, Rose, up and over!"

He didn't wait for her confirmation before he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up. She grabbed for the top of the fence and, with his help, pulled herself up. For a moment, she perched on top of the fence, before reaching down to grab his hand. He accepted it gratefully and she helped him find a foothold as he climbed up the fence. Once he had a good grip on the top of the fence, Rose dropped to the other side. He joined her moments later, breathless.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Yep. Let's get out of here!" she said. Once again, he took her hand and they raced to the abandoned building just across from the fence. Inside, they listened to the rising commotion that their escape had set into motion, afraid to even speak lest they be discovered.

Turning his head, he saw Rose looking at him and he could just make out the silhouette of her face in the darkness of the building. He saw her eyes shining and love swelled in his hearts. He cupped her cheek and brought her face to his for a kiss. Her lips trembled a little, but she leaned into his kiss gratefully, her fingers winding into his hair and scratching at his scalp.

The Doctor let his lips linger on hers, tasting, for just a few more moments. All too soon, Eulav was letting himself into the building and they reluctantly released one another, but kept their hands entwined. "Is it all clear out there?" he asked the Eltrutian.

Eulav shook his head. "Hardly. But it is mostly dark out there, even with the moon out. My home isn't far from here, we'll head for there and then we can determine where your ship is," he told them.

This sounded like a fine idea so they followed Eulav out of the abandoned building, being careful to stick to the shadows and take least travelled routes around buildings. Already, they could hear patrols on the streets looking for them. They needed to get out of sight, lay low for at least a little while until the interest died down. If it died down.

Eulav was true to his word and his home was just a few blocks away. He welcomed them inside the small, modest dwelling. There wasn't much, just a kitchen and a sitting room with an adjacent loo. Then, there were stairs up to a bedroom and an open loft. He showed them to a ladder that led up to an attic crawlspace. He apologised for the rough conditions, but explained that he thought they would be safest up there. As long as they remained quiet, no one would find them up there, even if guards came to his house and looked for them directly.

They had just climbed the ladder, the Doctor just enthusing over the small cot and the crate of energy bars when Rose's eyes slid back into her head, and she dropped to the floor in a dead faint.

 **Chapter 11**

Chapter Summary

Rose and the Doctor are not out of the woods yet and they have to take a small break from escaping.

Big monstrous disgusting thanks to lunarsilverwolfstar for being an amazing beta.

Rose woke up with a beam of sunshine slanted over her face. Any other time, she would have been annoyed to have her sleep disturbed before she was ready, but it had been so long since she'd seen the sun that she'd begun to think that she might never see it again.

She blinked her eyes, clearing away the fog, and propped herself up on her elbows to survey the space. She was laying on a cot, covered with a thin blanket. The sun was coming from a low window on the wall next to her. There was a wooden chair next to the cot and that was where the Doctor was sitting, leafing through a magazine of some sort. The room seemed to be mostly a storage space; various furnishings and boxes of belongings were piled on the other side of the room.

"You're awake!" the Doctor cried, bringing her attention back to him. He set the magazine aside and beamed at her happily.

"What happened? And where are we?" she asked. She could remember sneaking through the streets towards Eulav's house, but the rest was obscured in indistinct haze in her mind. She'd felt dizzy at different times during their escape, but hadn't wanted to call attention to it. The Doctor had needed to concentrate on getting them safely away from the zoo and she was probably just reacting to the excitement of their escape. Now, she worried that maybe it was something else.

"We're at Eulav's house. You fainted," he told her, tugging on one of his ears. "Just after we arrived here last night. I just barely caught you before you hit the floor. I think our little adventure has caught up with you. You're malnourished and dehydrated for sure, as well as exhausted, and your system has been stressed with all the injections you've had." He handed her a glass of water. "Here, drink this. But slowly."

He helped her sit up and she sipped at the water. She was surprised by how good the liquid felt on her throat. She kept sipping until the glass was empty and the Doctor took it from her. Her recollection of arriving at the house began to trickle back in as she woke up more.

"Well, let's get to the TARDIS and you can fix me up in the medbay just like that," she said, sitting up more. "Were you able to figure out how to get to the TARDIS from here yet?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep, while you were out, I had plenty of time to get the lay of the land. I know right where she is. It's on the other side of town, of course, but it shouldn't be difficult to get there if we're careful."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" She made to spring up from the cot, but the Doctor put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down.

"You're not going anywhere, Rose," he told her. He nudged her until she was laying back down on the cot and he covered her with the blanket. "You need to get your strength back. Here, eat this." He handed her an energy bar and she began to nibble on it, trying not to make a face at the bitter flavour.

"Well, you can go get the TARDIS, yeah? Bring it back here and pick me up?" she said, chewing thoughtfully. "In fact, why haven't you done that already? I must have been asleep for at least eight hours."

She was surprised to see how haunted his eyes appeared when he looked at her. "I couldn't leave you, Rose," he said quietly. "Not for a minute. We were– when we were separated in the zoo, I couldn't _stand it_. I have you with me now and I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

"That doesn't sound terribly practical," she mused, trying to sound casual. The dark look in his eye worried her. "You've gotta let me out of your sight sometime."

The Doctor's expression softened. "I will. I promise. Just… not yet. Let's get off this planet first, shall we?"

Rose smiled and agreed to that. They continued to talk a bit while Rose drank another cup full of water and nibbled on another energy bar. Soon, however, she found herself yawning. Finally, her jaw popped while she was yawning causing the Doctor to look at her with alarm. "All right, Ms Tyler, that's it. You need some more rest," he pronounced.

She knew better than to protest when he got That Look in his eye. Furthermore, she was feeling rather knackered. As the Doctor was tucking the blanket up to her chin, she caught him yawning as well. "You look pretty tired too, Doctor," she pointed out.

"I'm fine. Hardly need any sleep, me," he said with a wink. Then, he yawned again.

A laugh bubbled out of her. "When was the last time you slept?" she asked.

"Recently?" he supplied, tugging on his ear. Then he pointed his thumb back over his shoulder. "I'll just have a kip in the chair."

Rose eyed the stiff looking wooden chair. "Don't be ridiculous." She lifted up the corner of the blanket. "Come on, Tiger. Hop in. I promise I won't molest you in your sleep."

He raised an eyebrow at her before kneeling on the cot and then crawling over her to settle down behind her. The cot wasn't very wide and he had to pull her snuggly up against him so she wouldn't roll right off the edge. He wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her against him and she found that she… rather liked it.

There was something about sleeping like this, his body curled against hers, his arm around her… she felt safe and warm and content. She wrapped her own arm around his, drifting off to sleep with the sound of his even breathing in her ear and the sensation of his fingers lazily drawing circles on her stomach through the fabric of her borrowed tunic.

***

When Rose woke up next, she could tell by the quality of the light streaming through the small window that it was considerably later in the day. She tried to stretch her limbs, finding she was restricted by an arm around her torso and a leg slung over hers. The Doctor. She smiled a little, remembering falling asleep with him earlier. From the weight of him on her, she guessed that he was still sleeping so she took a moment to just enjoy the feel of him pressed against her and the scent of him that clung to her nostrils. Honey and spice, and something soft and smooth. Creamy. It inflamed her senses; she fought not to wriggle too much and wake him.

She failed miserably when she heard him sigh into her ear and shift behind her. "You awake?" he mumbled, his voice rough.

"Yeah," she sighed and she wriggled around in his arms until she was facing him. His eyes were droopy, his hair sticking up in a dozen different directions. The shadow of stubble that had been growing over the last few days was dark and enticing on his jaw. He looked incredible and her heart stuttered at the thought that he was _hers_.

"Hello," he said, the skin around his eyes crinkling as he smiled warmly at her. He worked his other arm underneath her so he could wrap his arms more fully around her.

"Hello," she replied, enjoying the cadence of their familiar greeting. Her eyes drifted from his wide, brown eyes down to his lips. The Doctor tightened his arms, pulling her closer and he dipped his head to kiss her.

His lips were warm and dry, but soft as they pressed gently against hers. They kissed leisurely, without intent, just enjoying the feeling of being together like this. Rose sighed softly and he moaned quietly; she quickly decided that this was the best possible way to wake up.

Eventually, they moved apart and sat up, stretching the stiffness from their arms and legs. She asked what time he thought it was and he bit into his lip as he looked up towards the ceiling in concentration.

"We were asleep for four hours and thirty-four minutes. It's now just past what you would consider lunchtime. Hungry?" he said, producing another energy bar with a flourish.

Rose laughed and accepted the food along with another glass of water. With a little rest, and some food and water, she was already feeling so much better than she had when they'd arrived at Eulav's house the night before. She felt quite ready to set out for the TARDIS and get off this planet; she told the Doctor as much.

"We're stuck here until the sun goes down," he informed her with regret. "It's no longer just the guards at the zoo looking for us out there; they've enlisted help from the planetary police force. Eulav told me this morning before he left to return to the zoo that they'll be patrolling all day and we'd be best off to wait until we at least have the cover of darkness on our side."

A startling though occurred to her. "Eulav! Is he okay? He's not in trouble for helping us, is he?"

"Nope. He got lucky," the Doctor said. "He went back to the zoo right away after leading us here last night. The guard that you knocked out didn't realise that we were with him so he thinks that we subdued Eulav as well. Our friend was more than happy to agree with that assumption. He was there for a while, answering questions and 'helping' with the investigation. They let him come home to sleep and then he went back for work as usual this morning."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good news. I would hate for him to get into trouble on our account."

The Doctor chewed thoughtfully on his energy bar. "Don't forget that he volunteered to help us. He wants to bring the zoo down, him and his friends. He's promised us that even after we leave, he will do what he can to free the remaining 'guests' of the zoo, and perhaps raise awareness about the zoo's practices and bring it down."

"We're not going to help?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. We're getting out of here. I won't breathe easy until I have you away from here, Rose."

That didn't quite sit right with her either. "Okay, Doctor. I understand in this case, after what we've _both_ been through. But please promise me that you won't hold back from doing the right thing in the future, just because of me. Okay?"

He looked at her, pained. "But if it puts you in danger…"

" _Especially_ if it puts me in danger. I won't have you putting me before the world, Doctor. 'I could save the world or lose you', remember? And I told you to do it. Always choose the world," she told him, reaching out and grabbing his hand, willing him to understand what she was saying. Couldn't he see that she couldn't possibly live with herself if she made him choose her over doing what was right?

"I'll… try. That's all I can promise, Rose," he said.

It would have to be enough and she hoped that it would be.

For the rest of the afternoon, they busied themselves by plotting the route they would take to where the TARDIS was parked. Eulav had given the Doctor a map of the town which he'd transcribed to a sheet of paper he'd found in one of the crates on the other side of the room. He filled in where the buildings were and marked the streets that Eulav said the patrols were expected to be the heaviest.

"The good news is that they don't know about the TARDIS. That means they won't be guarding it and if what Eulav said is correct, it looks like it's in a section of town where patrols are relatively light," he pointed out. "We'll just have to be very careful right about here and here. Even in the dark, they'll be searching for us, probably with lights."

Rose made a note of the spots on the map he'd pointed to and nodded. "How much longer until it's dark outside?" she asked.

The Doctor peered out the window for a minute before turning back to her. "I figure we've got about two hours. We should eat a little more and maybe leave a note for Eulav, thanking him for his hospitality. Unless you'd like to wait for him to get home tonight?"

She shook her head. "No, let's go as soon as we can."

They ate some more and discussed their escape. Rose could feel nerves and anxiety gathering in her belly as the sun dipped lower in the sky. She wanted so badly to get away from this town, the zoo, these aliens, and this planet. She was also very scared of getting captured again. She wasn't sure how she would contend with it if she had to go back into that enclosure again. And what if they captured her and not the Doctor and he was unable to get her free? Or if he died and regenerated, and his next form didn't remember her or care for her and he left her here?

She would feel infinitely better once they were away. And right now, she had to keep her head in the game and concentrate on sneaking out of the town with the Doctor.

When it was dark on the streets, she and the Doctor crept out of the attic and out of Eulav's home. They left him a note in his cupboard where they were sure he would find it (but where patrols would be unlikely to look if they checked his house for whatever reason). Holding her hand tightly, the Doctor led her through a maze of streets and buildings, ducking into alcoves when patrols came near and running as hard as they could when the coast was clear.

They were nearly to the other side of town, and just a block or two away from the TARDIS, when they encountered a patrol. Unfortunately, some dust from the last alcove they'd ducked into irritated her nose and she sneezed at the worst possible moment. Lights from handheld torches swung in their direction while the Doctor swore under his breath. Tugging on her hand, he whispered, "Run!"

 **Chapter 12**

Chapter Summary

The Doctor and Rose get held up on their dash back to the TARDIS in a very small cupboard. Surely he can handle that?

lunarsilverwolfstar beta'd this for me and I love her to pieces because of it.

The Doctor pulled Rose into a narrow alleyway. He yanked her through an open door but, instead of a building, it appeared to be a glorified storage unit without much room for two grown people. He pulled the door shut just as the sound of pounding boots hurried past their location. They held their breath for a moment until the sounds faded a bit, but he could still hear voices and shuffling noises indicating that patrols were still close by.

There wasn't very much room; the space seemed to be filled with various machinery and boxes. Rose was brushing against his front as they both listened for the patrols. He tried desperately to ignore her soft curves and took a deep breath. Of course, that ended up being a mistake since he was immediately inundated with her scent. The heady aroma made him feel dizzy and he had to squeeze his eyes shut and concentrate in order to gather his wits.

As the sounds outside faded further, he felt Rose relax minutely. The Doctor didn't relax much at all, as he could still feel her hip as she turned to survey their surroundings and he was finding her presence to be very distracting. Oh, all those years before they ended up here on Eltrut- it had never failed to frustrate him, being pressed into close confines with her. Sexual tension had always bubbled between them like a living thing. The Doctor _had_ been an expert at quelling his desires and Rose had never pressed things between them; neither of them had wanted to upset the delicate balance they had somehow managed to live with day after day. Neither of them had any clue of what they were missing out on at the time. Now, the knowledge of each other, and how their skin felt underneath their fingers and the sounds they made and the way they _tasted_ changed it all. Being practically pressed up against one another now in a tiny shack was akin to torture.

Well, torture if they didn't act on it.

No, surely they couldn't act on it. Not with the Eltrutians searching for them still. It was far too dangerous. And yet ... the danger was adding a layer to all of this. His skin felt tingly and aware, waiting for her touch. Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard that he could hear it. The Doctor swallowed thickly, trying to regain his senses. How could he manage that, when all he could smell was her, all around him? Was he alone in this? Was this having any effect at all on her?

"Doctor? Are you okay?" Rose's voice was right in his ear, quiet and strained, and sounding a little worried.

He grit his teeth. "I'll be fine," he told her.

"What's wrong?"

The Doctor exhaled noisily through his nose and opened his eyes. He couldn't see much; very little light was filtering through the cracks in the shed through a larger gap at the top of the door, but he could make out the shine of her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong. Not a thing," he insisted, hoping to make it true, and he looked up again at the gap above the door. "Say, if I boosted you up there, do you think you could look out and see where the patrols are?"

"Sure thing," she replied. It took a bit of fumbling, but eventually he stooped down and cupped his hands together for her to step onto. She couldn't quite see him in the dark, however, and had to grab onto his shoulders to get oriented with where he was. This resulted in a face full of Rose's breasts. Well, her breasts behind the tunic, but he'd seen enough of them the last few days that he could call up the image easy enough.

Nope. No thinking about _that_. It was time to focus on getting them to the TARDIS. The quicker, the better.

Rose finally found his hands with her foot and stepped up. The Doctor boosted her until her eyes were level with the gap above the door. "See anything?" he grunted, trying to keep his balance in this awkward position and trying not to notice how the hem of her tunic was riding up even higher on her legs.

"No… Wait! Yes! About a block away, there's a group of guards. They aren't looking this direction," she told him. Then, she grumbled. "But they're right between us and the TARDIS. We'll have to wait until they move off before we can get out of here."

That about figured. He wondered if his newly awakened hormones could wait that long. He could just make out the edge of her loincloth, peeking out from under the hem of the tunic and her scent, and the memory of her curves, and her tight, wet _heat_ … He simply couldn't take anymore.

The Doctor shifted his hold on her, moving his hands from her feet, gliding them up her legs while simultaneously letting her slide down his body. He stood up straighter as her pelvis made contact with his. In the dimness, he could barely make out the way her eyes widened as she felt his stiff arousal against her abdomen.

"We're very … close… in here," he murmured.

She wriggled a bit in front of him, as if testing the space, and pushed against him as she did so. He tried very hard not to moan aloud as she pressed against the front of his tunic, where it covered his dignity.

"Close?" she whispered and his eyes rolled back in his head. She sounded awfully innocent. She knew he was hard, surely she felt it. He'd seen in her eyes that she felt it. What was she playing at?

"I can smell you," he said slowly, quietly. The air in the shed seemed to still, like the calm before a storm. He couldn't even make out the sounds of her breathing, though he could feel her chest rising and falling against his chest.

She moved her hands so they gripped his shoulders. "Doctor," she murmured and her voice was dripping with need. His insides liquefied and warmth shot through him, right to his groin. No, he was definitely not alone in this.

"We can't," she whispered and, even to her own ears, she didn't sound the least bit convincing.

"We can," he breathed, rocking his hips against hers and causing her breath to catch in her throat. "You smell amazing."

"I do not," she protested weakly. "I haven't had a proper shower in days."

"That just means your scent is more potent," he told her. "I want you."

Rose whimpered, the sound turning the blood in his veins to fire and she pushed forward against him again. "The guards could be back any minute," she reminded him.

"I know," he said simply and he felt her shudder against him. He found that he didn't care at all if the guards came back.

The Doctor's hands were at her waist and she tightened her fingers on his shoulders. It was so dark in this shed, but he could just make out the outline of her cheek in the moonlight as he watched her.

"If we do this," she said quietly, slowly running her fingernails down the front of his tunic, "we have to be quick and quiet."

The Doctor made a growling noise as he bent down and nipped at her jaw before soothing his lips over the skin. "I make no promises, Rose Tyler," he said darkly.

He felt Rose rise up in front of him, probably up on her tip toes (and didn't he thrill at that image in his mind) and a moment later, felt her teeth nip at his Adam's apple. He groaned and pushed against her.

"Minx," he growled. He reached down and grabbed the edge of her tunic, hiking the material up to her waist. She took the hint and reached down, fumbling with the ties on his loincloth. Rose pushed impatiently at the material until it slid down his narrow hips to pool at his feet. He ripped at hers in turn, letting it flutter to Rassilon knew where and he, quite frankly, didn't care.

The Doctor paused for a moment as he considered the options. He didn't know if there was an open wall to press her against and, even if there were, there might be too much noise. Under normal circumstances, he would enjoy the thought of the two of them making plenty of noise, but the goal here was to be quiet. He scanned the shack and saw a long table against the far wall. There were some boxes stacked on top of it, but maybe…

He turned to the table and began pulling the boxes off and shoving them underneath the table. "Doctor? What're you–?" Rose began to ask, but he cut her off by patting the top of the table.

"Hop on up," he instructed, his voice rougher than he'd anticipating it being.

She obliged, understanding what he was angling for, and when she was seated, he moved forward, pulling her knees apart and stepping in between them. Rose reached around to grab at his arse, pulling him up even closer against her so that his cock rubbed against her abdomen. With her other hand, she reached down and took ahold of him, stroking firmly. The Doctor's knees suddenly felt like jelly. Rose had never touched him this directly before and, when he looked down between them to see her small hand wrapped around him, he very nearly lost it right there.

"Rose!" he gasped.

"I want this," she keened. "Inside me."

He wanted nothing more than to oblige her. He was about to do just that, brushing her hand away and taking ahold of himself and lining up with her entrance, when the sound of loud voices just outside the shack doors made him freeze.

"Doctor," Rose whimpered, grabbing at his hips and trying to drag them towards her.

"Shh!" he said. "I hear guards just outside."

"What?" Her voice was no longer hazed with lust, but sharp and alert. And, thankfully, quiet.

He edged over to the door and pressed his ear up against it, pushing back his disappointment at having been interrupted. It sounded as though the patrol was just walking past. Rose joined him and then pushed on his shoulder to get him to step back. "Boost me up again!" she hissed in his ear and he held out his hands. She found his hands quicker this time, her eyes perhaps finally adjusting to the dark, and he pushed her up until she could see out through the gap.

He looked away as she peeked out, trying not to remember that she was now without a loincloth on underneath the tunic. As was he.

"They're walking away!" she whispered excitedly. "The other direction even. They're almost… Ooh! They're around the corner! Quick!"

He let her hop down and bent to retrieve their loincloths from the floor as she pulled the door open as quietly as possible. He handed hers to her and she batted his hand away, still scanning the streets for any sign of a patrol. "No time. Let's make a run for it!"

"Rose Tyler, I like the way you think," he told her. He dropped the loincloths and took her hand in his. Together, they ran down the street and towards the welcoming sight of the TARDIS awaiting their return.

***

Back inside the TARDIS at last, Rose trailed her fingers absently along the edge of the console, not meeting his eyes as he worked feverishly to send them into the Vortex. "So, I was um… Going to go shower then."

The Doctor paused for a moment and swallowed. He was picking up a definite air of awkwardness from her. It'd probably been too much to hope that maybe she'd want to pick up where they'd left off in the shack. Maybe now that they were done with that particular adventure, she wanted things to go back to the way they were between them. That thought hurt more than he would have thought it would.

"Oh, right," he said, fighting to keep the disappointment out of his voice. "Well, yes, I could see where you might want to do that. Being in a zoo and all for days. I should probably do that myself."

"Right, I'll just go and do that then." She stepped around him and made a beeline for the door; he stared after her agitatedly and ruffled a hand through the hair on the back of his head. So that was it. She was just going to run from the situation and he was going to let her.

But how could he? After everything they'd gone through, after all they'd _told_ each other … they couldn't just forget all that, could they? Finally, he came to a decision just before she disappeared down the corridor.

"Erm, Rose?" he called out. His voice was pitched a bit high so he cleared his throat.

She paused and turned to look back at him. "Yeah?" Was he imagining the hopefully look in her eye and quaver in her voice?

"Would you… That is … well… I've got this rather large bathtub, and I was thinking, perhaps…" He stopped and shifted from foot to foot nervously. She was looking at him as though he'd just grown a second head, but it was too late to backpedal now.

"You were thinking perhaps…?" she prompted, licking her lips, and taking a step back towards him. Her eyes were expectant.

"Well, I was wondering if you might want to … erm… join me? Not that you have to," he said in a rush when he noticed how her eyes widened. "After all you just went through, you might just want some privacy, but I would really like it if…"

"Yes," she interrupted, smiling. "Yes, please. I'd love that."

"Oh." His cheeks went a bit pink and he smiled in relief. "Oh, that's good. That's really … _very_ good, in fact. I've got this new bubble bath, you see, chocolate banana scented, and it's edible."

Rose laughed. "Sounds fun. How could any girl refuse that?"

"My thoughts exactly." He winked at her, having regained his confidence, considering her reassuring interest.

"Give me a bit of a head start?" she said, gesturing behind her at the corridor. "I'd like to rinse off in the shower real quick." She bit her lip and looked up at him through her lashes.

"Please, go on ahead. I think I'll stop by the galley and pick us up nibbles for after our bath. I don't know about you, but I'm famished! Just head down the corridor, the TARDIS will lead you right to my room and my en suite is attached. Make yourself at home," he instructed her, grinning. The idea of her in his room, in his shower or his bathtub or _in his bed_ , was immensely thrilling.

From the way Rose's eyes lit up when he mentioned nibbles, he surmised that she was famished as well. She squeezed his hand before retreating down the corridor towards his bedroom and adjoining en suite. He watched her leave with a swish of her hips that he was almost certain she did on purpose. Whatever message she was trying to convey with the circular rotation of her bum, he received it, loud and clear.

 **Chapter 13**

Chapter Summary

They've escaped the zoo and are back on the TARDIS. Now it's time to get clean and get dirty. In that order.

Sorry about the long wait, with the holiday weekend, I thought I'd give people a chance to catch up and enjoy the weekend before posting more. lunarsilverwolfstar beta'd this and she did a fantastic job.

In the Doctor's ensuite, Rose took one look at his bathtub and laughed. He'd said it was large, but she felt that adjective didn't do this enormous basin lined with jets and edged with cushions for resting ones neck upon justice. It would take a while to fill, she mused, so she turned on the taps and located the chocolate banana scented bubble bath he'd mentioned in the cabinet and dumped in a few capfuls.

While the hot water ran, she stripped out of her borrowed tunic and stepped into the walk-in shower so she could rinse off the grime and wash her hair properly before settling in for a nice, long soak. Rose instantly felt better as her hair came clean underneath her fingers as she scrubbed the shampoo in and rinsed it out. She scrubbed her body with a damp flannel and smiled when she saw a razor sitting in the soap dish. Muttering a thank you to the sentient time ship, Rose quickly set about removing any excess body hair she'd acquired in the last several days.

She didn't dawdle, wanting to sink beneath the fragrant bubbles of that bath badly by now. She turned off the shower and didn't even bother to dry off with a towel before stepping into the tub, which was now sufficiently filled with hot water and scented oil and voluminous bubbles. The water, almost too hot to bear, felt absolutely marvellous as she lowered herself into the tub. She could feel all the tension that had been gathering in her muscles over the course their "adventure" on Eltrut III begin to melt away. She leaned her head back on one of the cushions and exhaled audibly. The water lapped gently at her skin and the familiar hum of the TARDIS surrounded her; she let her eyes fall shut as she was lulled away.

Rose must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, the Doctor was kneeling next to the tub. Her field of vision was filled with his damp hair, tousled but dripping at the ends, and his dark and lustful eyes.

"Hello," she said, grinning lazily.

"Hello," he replied, matching her smile.

"Did I drift off?"

"Mmhmm. I might have taken a bit longer gathering the nibbles than I'd planned on. I put them in my room and came right here and found you sleeping amidst the bubbles, like some sort of nymph," he told her fondly, running a finger down her check, over her neck and across her clavicle.

"I didn't mean to," she murmured. "I was waiting for you to come join me." She leaned back and looked at him properly. He was undressed and his hair was still dripping. "Unless I really missed something?"

The Doctor chuckled. "I hopped in the shower to wash my hair, shave and rinse off, just like you did," he told her. "And I was planning on joining you, but…"

"But what?"

"But now I think I want something else entirely."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what else he wanted with the way he was looking at her, his eyes drifting down over her neck, shoulders, and the tops of her breasts exposed above the bubbles. His knuckles were white where he gripped the edge of the tub and, suddenly, Rose wasn't terribly interested in remaining in the tub any longer either. She lifted a hand up, slightly pruned for all the time she'd spent submerged, and held it out for him.

"Help me out of the tub?"

He took her hand and pulled, getting to his feet. As soon as she found her own feet beneath her, she stood, the water and bubbles sluicing over her body and he swept her up into his arms.

***

The Doctor carried Rose into his room, his legs trembling but not with the effort. He was strong and she weighed hardly anything to him. The desire and arousal he felt for her was crashing through his system, however, and his synapses were all focused on the bundle of wet, naked Rose in his arms. She squirmed in his arms as he stumbled across the floor and he dropped her onto the bed as she squealed.

He stood at the edge of the bed for a moment, just staring at her with her limbs akimbo, her naked skin glowing with dampness… Her hair was damp, especially at the ends and spread out around her head on the duvet like a halo. She was grinning at him, teasing and playful, beckoning him to join her. With a deep growl in his chest, he launched himself at her, straddling her body as he claimed her lips with his own. Rose arched up against him, her nipples grazing his chest as she responded to his kiss, her tongue sliding alongside his as her fingers clutched at his hair.

The Doctor withdrew, reluctantly; Rose whimpered at the loss of his lips and tongue. "You look glorious," he told her, taking in the sight of her spread out beneath him. "I can't fathom why we didn't do this sooner."

"You had reasons," she told her, her voice husky.

"They were terrible reasons," he mused, drawing a finger down from her collarbone, between her breasts before circling it around her navel. "But the important thing is I have you here now. And we're not in some rubbish zoo or a shed and we don't have an audience. What we do have is a very large bed and plenty of time."

Rose grinned, her tongue playing along the side of her smile and she turned her head to look at his room for the first time. "This _is_ a rather large bed. Why's it so big if you hardly sleep?"

"Because … when I do sleep, I want to have plenty of room. It's also great for entertaining," he mused as he dipped his head, pressing a kiss to the hollow of her throat.

"Wait, what?" Rose's voice had lost its husky quality and she pushed at his shoulder. He leaned back and met her eyes. She looked at him questioningly. "Are you saying you do _this_ ," and she gestured with one hand between them, "often?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Ehm… no. Not as such. I meant that more as theoretical. I don't do this sort of thing often and I've never done it with a companion before," he assured her. The crease that had formed between Rose's eyebrows smoothed and she smiled again.

"So I'm not a one-off?" she asked, starting to look coy and relaxed again.

He grinned back at her. "You know you're not. I meant what I said back in that zoo." He brushed a kiss on the sensitive underside of her breast, enjoying how she shivered. "I love you. I am _in love_ with you. I desire you." She shivered again.

"I love you too, Doctor," she murmured breathily as he returned to kissing along her skin, licking up the drops of water that had beaded here and there, and cataloguing her essence on his tongue. He wanted a deeper taste. He remembered tasting her in the zoo, against that wall, and what a fast, desperate thing it had been. Their heads had been swimming with hormones and pent up desire. While it had been fantastic, he hadn't been able to take his time and really _savour_ her the way that he really wanted to. He wasn't a quick man, by nature, and he liked to take his time. Grinning darkly as he moved down her body, he knew he had plenty of time now.

The Doctor pressed wet, openmouthed kisses along her belly, into the curve of her hip, down near the juncture of her legs, and she spread her legs for him even while she gasped. He reached up and parted her further with his hands, using his thumbs to press on in the insides of her thighs and exposing her centre fully to his scrutiny. Back in the zoo, he hadn't really wanted to invade her privacy by staring and, here on the TARDIS, the bath water had obscured her from his view. Now, he had the opportunity to look and feel to his fill. Not that he ever thought he'd ever be satisfied when it came to Rose. No, now that they'd started down this path together, he was lost.

Keeping his hands firmly on her thighs, he instead explored her with his lips, tongue, and nose, keeping away from where he could already tell she was desperate for him. He nudged his nose along the crease of her thigh and inhaled deeply, drawing the scent of her arousal into his senses. He kissed and licked at her skin, still damp from the bath, ever mindful of where her centre was already dripping for him.

"I still can't believe you want me," he told her honestly, between kisses to her mound, her thighs. "You are so wet and to think that I've made you this way is … brilliant."

Rose was arching her back and trying to raise her hips, to bring her centre closer to his attentions. "Please, Doctor. I'm wet for you because I want you so badly. _Please_ ," she begged, her voice sounding ragged. Knowing she was clinging to control made him lose some of his and he pressed forward to lick along her slit.

Her taste exploded on his tongue and he wanted to stop to memorise every nuance of her flavour, but he couldn't stop now. Rose was keening in a most amazing way and he needed to keep going. He kissed her folds as he had her mouth, wet and openmouthed, his lips massaging, and his tongue flashing out to press against her entrance and coax her clit. She cried out then, a hand flailing out and grabbing onto his hair. The Doctor released one of her legs and brought his fingers to her folds, stroking lightly before pressing one finger inside her, clear to the knuckle, appreciating the way her tight walls grasped at his questing digit. A fresh wave of arousal coated his finger and surrounded his taste buds. He moaned, drinking her in. He began to focus his tongue on her clit, feeling it rise and swell against his assault as he added another finger to join the first. Twisting his fingers, he curled them upwards, feeling for the slightly rough spot within her that he knew would make her scream for him.

Rose's thighs began to quiver and her moans grew louder as his tongue danced around her clit. The Doctor increased the pressure, pumping hard now with his fingers and lapping his tongue against her clit. She was shaking all over now, calling out and babbling nonsense; pride surged through him that he'd brought her to this. He felt her walls begin to tremble against his thrusting fingers and he slowed down a bit, pressing harder and swirling his tongue slower but more insistently against her throbbing clit.

"Doctor! I'm–" she choked out, pulling on his hair and grabbing for his other hand which still pressed on her leg. He clutched her hand but didn't let up his attentions.

He raised his head for just a moment. "I've got you, Rose. Come for me," he urged before returning to his task.

It only took a few more strokes of his fingers against her sensitive walls before she cried out, her back bowed and her muscles tense as her hips moved mindlessly against his mouth and hand. He removed his fingers and lapped up her release, gently easing her down as her thighs relaxed around his head. Her fingers slackened in his and in his hair, d her back returning to the duvet. The Doctor leaned back, resting his head against her thigh as he looked up at her adoringly, watching as her chest heaved with her breaths, waiting for her to regain her senses. She was brilliant, like a supernova. His precious Rose.

Finally, her breathing evened out and she giggled. He crawled up the bed to stretch out next to her, smiling at her delight.

"Wow, you are just … really, _really_ good at that," she murmured.

"I know," he replied with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She smacked his bicep halfheartedly. "And modest too." The Doctor was about to shift himself over her when Rose grabbed his hand, pulling it up to her mouth. She drew the fingers that had, just moments ago, been thrust deep inside her into her mouth and swirled her tongue about them, learning her own taste on his skin. His already stiff cock hardened further and he ached for friction as she cleaned his fingers, her eyes trained on his. He was nearly whimpering when she released his fingers and rolled over to press against his chest. She dipped her head down, kissing and licking along the side of his neck until she reached his earlobe, which she nibbled delicately.

"Rose!" he cried out, as sensation arrowed through him.

"I love your ears," she murmured, her breath hot on his neck. "Have ever since you were him, since you wore the leather." She sunk her teeth into his neck and then pulled away, soothing her tongue over the spot before sucking the flesh into her mouth, no doubt making a mark. He growled and arched towards her, wishing to make a mark of his own on her.

Slowly, she moved down to his chest where she paid attention to his collarbones and his nipples, running her fingers through the sparse hair there and scratching lightly over spots he hadn't even realised were sensitive.

"I want to know what makes you gasp, Doctor," she told him, her voice low and throaty. "What will it take to make you lose control and show me that Oncoming Storm of yours?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but the words died in his throat as Rose continued to explore down the length of his torso, her fingers light and testing, her tongue hot, wet, and curious. She nipped at his hipbones and he gasped a little, his hips unconsciously thrusting up. She grinned up at him as she moved over to where he was so very hard for her. She was looking at his cock with undisguised interest; he thought about how he'd felt, finally feeling free to look his fill, and allowed her this moment, even though he was desperate for more.

Rose stroked him lightly with her fingertips, starting at the tip where the head was peeking above the foreskin, clear down to the base where she finally wrapped her fist around him, squeezing just enough to have him groaning. He fought to lay still and let her take her time, but it was hard not to grab at her head or push his pelvis closer to her. He was about to plead with her when she leaned down and, pumping her fist down on his shaft, ran her tongue along the head in a circular pattern. A shudder tore through him and, he had a moment to wonder if the rest of her mouth was so warm and wet, before she finally took his cock into her mouth. Experienced as he was, he hadn't had many blow jobs, and it felt amazing; her tongue was firm and teasing as she pressed it along the underside of his length, swirling a little as she moved down. The wet and warmth and deliciously tight pressure threatened to overwhelm him.

The Doctor forced his eyes open, not even remembering having slammed them shut, and looked down his body to watch her. Rose bobbed her head forward, taking him in as much as she could, and the erotic vision this made had a groan tearing from his throat. This was literally a fantasy come true for him. As she quickened her movements, he realised that he was going to have to interrupt her before he erupted in her mouth and put a kink in his plans for them together.

With a supreme display of willpower, he reached down and pulled her up. She released him with an audible pop and seemed to already know what he had in mind because her grin was wide, full of dark promise, as she let him pull her up his body.

 **Chapter 14**

Chapter Summary

The Doctor and Rose spend a little more time getting to know one another and we reach the end of our little tale.

Thanks to everyone for joining me on the ride that is *zoofic*! I hope you enjoyed it. I do have a bit of an idea for a sequel but I have another story to post (already written, being beta'd) and another story I'm in the middle of writing. But provided the muse still stays with me, I'll work on it after that.

Huge thanks to lunarsilverwolfstar for being my beta on this one and to Value Turtle for her inspiration and support and Lain21 for resurrecting this beastie. Also: i received some GREAT help on the smut in this chapter so I want to say a special thank you to LittleWhoMouse, tkross, neverwhyonlywho, spookyknight, lunarsilverwolfstar, and bittie752. You gals are all WONDERFUL. And now you never have to hear me talk about zoofic again! Yay!

The Doctor captured her lips with his the moment they were within reach. He kissed her long and lazily, his tongue moving languidly alongside hers, fingers stroking the skin on her arms gently. Rose had expected him to be more urgent, more frantic. Instead, he seemed to want to take his time and be as tender as possible. As she melted under the pressure of his firm lips, she had a difficult time arguing with his logic.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes with his warm, brown gaze. "Rose, I would like to…" he trailed off and looked a little uncertain, a little embarrassed.

"What is it, Doctor?" she asked, stroking the side of his face.

"I know you don't like anyone or anything in your head," he began and his voice trembled, "but my people, when they did this, which wasn't very often, there was a strong psychic component. It – I miss – I don't want to push you, Rose. But I thought … maybe?"

Rose couldn't help but smile at his fumbling. He was such a decisive, confident lover that to see him be unsure about something in this environment was completely strange. And completely adorable, if she were being honest. She arched up and brushed a quick kiss against his lips.

"Tell me," she said.

Sighing, the Doctor pushed up from her and rested himself on his side next to her. He supported his head with his hand and she mirrored his position. "Well, you know that I'm telepathic, yes?"

Rose nodded. She couldn't help but think of the times she'd seen him use that particular talent. Before the thoughts could take root, she pushed all memory of France from her mind.

"It's touch telepathy and it's … a bit limited. Much of it depends on the telepathic abilities of the other person, as far how much can be shared. And simple touch isn't quite like a bond," he explained.

"What is a bond?" she asked.

"It's a bit like what you humans call marriage. Bondings weren't common during my time on Gallifrey; Rassilon was trying to move us towards becoming beings of higher thought and he didn't believe that emotions and things like sex and bondings had any place in his plans for the Time Lords."

"Sounds a bit dull," she muttered. "Wait a minute … were you the rebel? Time Lord without a cause?"

The Doctor blushed charmingly, the tips of his ears turning pink and Rose giggled. "You laugh! But it's rather true, actually. I was quite the thorn in the High Council's side."

She kept giggling. "I can believe that. So, are you saying that you'd want one of these … bonds?"

A hopeful look washed over his features. "We don't – that's not necessary right off, but … oh, Rose. I would love to have a bond with you," he admitted. "But for now, if you're willing, we can just see about connecting our minds, for this, and go from there?"

Rose didn't mind the thought of him in her head near as much anymore as she used to. This was the Doctor and she trusted him implicitly. "Let's do it," she said decisively.

"Okay, let me just establish the link first…" he said and he sat up, crossing his legs on the bed next to her. She sat up as well as he lifted his hands and placed his fingers at her temples. "I'll go slow, just try to relax."

She let her eyes drift closed and felt something nudge at the edge of her mind. She concentrated on relaxing and opening herself up to the unfamiliar intrusion. A moment later, a warm presence filled her mind and she knew that it was him. She could feel the pulse of his thoughts as they brushed against hers and it was surprisingly erotic. Oh, yes, _definitely_ erotic. His mental presence pressed against her pleasure centres; Rose could feel a hum begin and build up throughout her body.

"I've established a temporary link," the Doctor said softly, withdrawing his fingers. The hum faded slightly but, all the sudden, it sharpened and focused in on her cheek. It almost felt like … a kiss! Rose looked up at him, surprised, and he chuckled.

"Just enough for me to give you mild … touches. And I'll be able to feel what brings you the most pleasure," he said and he blushed adorably. "I – if you want, later, I can touch your head again and you can feel what I feel. Only if you want."

She nodded, a little dazzled. He started off slow and more than a little awkward. Honestly, Rose had a hard time holding in her giggles. It almost felt like she was with her first boyfriend and they were both just learning to kiss. Thomas hadn't been very good; too much tongue.

Luckily, the Doctor seemed to be using his new connection with her to make sure he didn't nearly choke her like Thomas had. His tongue played against hers, curling it around the edge and swirling around to the other side, drawing her out and pushing back in. She moaned as she felt his hand cup her breast and his thumb gently swiped across her nipple. He repeated it again, pressing a little harder and shifting a little closer to her; his other hand moving to the small of her back.

Gentle fingers pressed low along her spine, stroking over each vertebra in turn. She let him nudge her closer, let his hand cup her – and when he rolled her nipple under his thumb, it wasn't telepathy that told him to do it again. He made a satisfied hum to answer her little sigh, let her deepen the kiss, and his hum darkened to a groan when her clever fingers began stroking, pressing their way up the insides of his thighs. When her fingers finally found the object of their quest, Rose stroked his length slowly, running her thumb over the tip before returning to his thighs.

The Doctor groaned at the loss and she gasped as the sensation of ghosting hands starting to run up and down her own thighs, refusing to touch where she wanted them most. She tried to grab the hands, tried to encourage them to move, but found only her own skin. One of the Doctor's hands was still teasing her nipple, while the other was wrapped around her neck. Taking the hint, she removed her hands from his thighs to cup his balls and let her fingers drift up the length of his shaft again. Then, Rose felt the cold sting of an ice cube being dragged across her neck. It felt so real, down to the water dripping down into the hollow of her throat. These teasing touches were maddening; she wanted to feel him inside of her badly and was starting to lose her patience.

Suddenly, she felt him once again where he wasn't – this time, a spark right at her centre. The touch was warm and strong, felt more like his tongue than the phantom touch of his fingers so far.

"Oh!" she yelped, surprised, but not at all displeased.

He smiled almost sheepishly. "Sorry, too much…?"

She smirked, her tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth. "You don't need to apologise."

His hand travelled back to her hair, fingers twining through blonde locks and then tightening into a fist. His other hand trailed down her chest, coming back to playing with the breast that had been otherwise ignored. Yet, she still felt as if her other nipple were being laved by his tongue. She rubbed her thighs together, feeling herself get even wetter than before, and gasped at the sensation of fingers exploring her slit. Once she felt his actual fingers in her hair shift and tighten slightly, she reached down and gripped his cock.

"I'm ready for this _now_ ," she growled at him. He moaned and reached down to pull her hand away. Rose looked back up at him, pouting, a pout that was quickly wiped away when she felt two fingers that felt real, but were not, thrust into her.

"I know we should take this slowly," he ground out, voice roughened by mounting pleasure as his touch stroked against her walls. Rose tightened her grip and he shuddered. "But you're making it difficult for me to hold back." Rose wanted to memorise the subtle changes in his expression, the way his mouth fell open, his bottom lip jutting out just a fraction below the other, his wide, darkened eyes, and the small crease between his eyebrows.

"No holding back, Doctor," she whispered breathily. "I want all of you."

That was all the urging he needed, apparently, before he was on her. She felt him all over, his touch everywhere, both in actuality and using his psychic trick. Rose tried to keep track of what touch was what, but soon got lost in the sensations. She opened her eyes to meet his and found that his usual warm chocolate eyes were completely swallowed by dark pupils. He nudged a knee in between her thighs and she opened up to cradle his hips as he lowered himself. Balancing on one hand, he used his other hand to guide his length as he pushed inside of her.

Before, against the wall, Rose had been caught up in the amazing reality that was the Doctor finally shagging her and the crashing sensations that were ripping through her hormone-laden body. She recalled a sense of him filling her perfectly, and not much beyond that. Now, she felt every inch of him as he eased in. Their pelvises met, briefly, and he pulled back again. She revelled in the slide of his flesh, into and out of her, the intimacy of it and the raw sense of completion she felt at being joined like this with the man she loved the most in the whole universe.

The psychic touches, which she had been feeling all over her body moments before, began to falter and fade away as the Doctor focused on the movements of their bodies as they came together. She lifted her hips to him and he groaned as he thrust in, roughly this time. He lowered himself to his elbows, his sparse chest hair rubbing against her sensitive nipples, causing her to arch towards him for more contact. The Doctor brought his hands up to either side of her head again and paused, meeting her eyes with a wide, desperate expression.

"Please?" he rasped.

Rose knew what he was asking, remembered what he'd said earlier about feeling what he felt. He could already feel her pleasure, though she wondered if the sensation was dulled since they didn't have a proper bond and he hadn't been touching her head. He wanted her to feel what he felt, how she made him feel. Experiencing that level of intimacy with him sounded so incredible, and so arousing, that she was eager to complete the circuit and feel all of him within her at last.

She nodded, her mouth falling open, but unable to find her voice. His hips stuttered for a moment and then his cool fingertips pressed to her temples. Like before, she felt the warm presence of his mind touching hers. And then … she felt it _all_.

She experienced his emotions, the overwhelming love and affection he felt as he joined with her, as well as the physical sensations of pleasure they were bringing each other. Her arousal, which had already been aflame, was stoked higher, and she became aware of her throat feeling raw because of how loud she was crying out. It was so much. It was everything. She wanted to pull him inside of her and keep him safe forever. On a keening wail, she finally came, and she could feel the shaking through her whole body as he held on tighter, pumped harder, and followed her down into the abyss of pleasure.

***

Waking up in his own bed with a naked and warm Rose in his arms would have to go down as one of the best experiences of his very long life, the Doctor thought. He looked forward to duplicating this occurrence as often, and for as long, as he possibly could.

Rose was still fast asleep and looked as though she planned to stay that way for quite a while. The Doctor had a few things he wanted to check on, so he carefully eased out of bed, making sure not to disturb her. He crossed to his wardrobe and pulled a fresh pair of pants off the shelf along with a pair of trousers. He pulled them on and dragged an oxford from the shelf. As he buttoned it up, he stood at the edge of the bed and watched her as she slept on.

Her golden hair was fanned out on the pillow, her small hand fisted up next to her mouth, her lips parted and relaxed. She looked like an angel. And she was his now. His hearts stuttered and he smiled as he turned back to his wardrobe to select a tie. Something with flowers on it, he thought.

In the console room, he set the coordinates carefully. Now was not the time to make a miscalculation, to land a few hundred years off from his target. He needed to go back to Eltrut III to make sure that things had been taken care of properly. As well as everything had turned out for himself and Rose in the end, he was still angry at the Eltrutians. What they were doing with their "Grand Zoo" was _wrong_. The Doctor trusted that Eulav and his co-conspirators had a plan for sabotaging the zoo, but he would rest easier knowing that everything had been taken care of properly.

***

Rose awoke to find herself alone. She wasn't terribly surprised about that; she knew the Doctor didn't sleep much and he had slept quite a bit in the zoo. She shambled into the en suite to take care of her morning ritual, and noticed with a fond smile that a fluffy white dressing gown awaited her when she stepped out of the shower. She pulled it on, ran her brush (which had somehow appeared on the counter while she'd been in the shower) through her hair, and padded off to find the Doctor.

He was just walking through the doors of the TARDIS when she entered the console room. He was fully dressed in what she figured was one of his many spare brown suits and his face broke into a smile when he saw her. He bounded up the ramp, past the Time Rotor, and swept her up in a bone-crushing hug, her feet swinging around.

When he set her back down, she couldn't help but giggle at his twinkling eyes and toothy grin. "What's got you so happy?" she asked.

"Besides the obvious?" He waggled his brows at her. "I was just checking on our friends on Eltrut III," he told her. "Here, have a seat and I'll tell you all about it."

Rose let herself be led to the jump seat and she sat down while he perched next to her. He took her hands in his and stroked the backs of them with his thumbs. "I brought us back to two months after we left. I visited Eulav at his home and he filled me in on everything that has gone on. Rose, it's been a huge success. As it turns out, Eulav went to Shawn like you had suggested he do and Shawn was thrilled to help them sabotage the zoo."

"How?" she asked, mystified.

"They rallied local support; it turns out the citizens didn't care for the zoo much either. They thought it took attention from domestic issues and it did. The infrastructure in that town, I don't know if you noticed, was atrocious. _Anyhow_ , there was a groundswell of support for the resistance and eventually those in charge of the zoo couldn't keep back the protestors. The tourists stopped coming to the zoo, the exhibits were all released and are being relocated back to their proper environments and everyone lived happily ever after!" he finished, beaming broadly. Rose was reminded of another moment and a big grin and "Everyone lives!"

"I think that's fantastic! Good for Eulav! And I'm so glad that Shawn was able to help. He really was a decent bloke," she said.

The Doctor sniffed. "He was okay, I guess."

"Did he ever get the parts he needed to fix his ship so he could get home?" she asked.

He nodded. "Eulav said he'd just left the day before, in fact. Said to tell us goodbye, if we ever stopped back in." He still looked a little sullen at her having mentioned the other bloke. Typical man.

"But you know," Rose drawled, sliding off the jump seat and moving to stand between the Doctor's legs. She took his tie in hand and stoked her fingers along it, "You're the one I fantasise about."

A cocky grin spread across his face. "Oh really? Care to share with the class, Ms Tyler?"

"I just might," she said slowly, stepping away from him. He watched her, a predatory light in his eyes. Rose began to tug at the belt of her dressing gown as she continued stepping backward. She stopped when her bum hit the edge of the console.

She pulled the knot loose and then shrugged her shoulders, causing the dressing gown to pool around on the grating around her feet, leaving her entirely bare before his eyes.

It took the Doctor approximately 1.5 seconds before he pounced on her.


End file.
